Behind the Music
by Polinomics
Summary: Gohan is a troubled young man. Having been introduced to the high school student lifestyle unprepared, his naïvety gets the better of him and he struggles to cope with the consequences.
1. Undone

I intend for my take on Gohan to be quite different to what I have seen on this site so far. I would appreciate it very much so if anyone who reads this was to review it, it's only an idea I'm really toying with at the moment and I'm unsure whether to carry on with it. Each chapter is named after a song that I feel assists in stimulating that atmosphere that I'm going for in the chapter. Just google Undone Song and the first video that comes up is it.**  
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><p><strong>Undone<strong>

Gohan slowly opened his eyes. He squinted at the sun as he tried to gain his bearings. His bare left leg was balanced neatly on the slender branch of the bush in which he found himself occupying while his right leg, still clothed by his remaining trouser leg, lay straight in front of him. He had managed to lose a shoe, his right one peculiarly but his shirt, jacket and tie were still intact. He hurriedly checked his jacket pockets for his wallet, searching for the lump, having found it he sat up in what little space the bush offered.

'Ahhhhh shiiiiiit, what the hell happened? Kami! Videl!'

Checking his remaining trouser leg he found what remained of his phone. The back was lost and the screen was cracked straight through the middle, other than that it was in perfect working condition.

'Why do I even have this thing?' He thought to himself 'It's not even like I use it very often'.

He clicked the middle button at the top of the keypad, 14 missed calls, all from Videl.

'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shiiiiiit, how am I going to explain this one to Videl? She is going to have my balls' he muttered to himself.

Raising himself to his feet he further surveyed his surroundings. It appeared that he had managed to make his way at some point in the prior night to a park somewhere in Satan City. Where his trouser leg had gone was another question. Children playing on the swings stared and pointed at him while their mothers glared at him contemptuously.

'Man, I really hit it last night' thought Gohan as he stretched his supple arms and legs out.

He proceeded to vacate the park via a handily placed gate, 100 yards the direction away from the glaring mothers. Having found a secluded spot in an alleyway opposite the said gate, Gohan reviewed his watch. He tried to make out the short hand in his somewhat blurred vision.

'9…am? I hope it is.'

He wobbly floated above the roofs of the adjacent buildings and quickly moved into the stratosphere. An idea quickly flashed into his mind.

'If it's only 9 am then there's a possibility that Mum hasn't got up yet and so won't have checked to see if I came home last night'

Recognising his opportunity he clenched his fists, gritted his teeth and concentrated his mind in preparation.

'This is going to sting so badly'

He felt his blood rush to his head and his muscles tighten. The transition to Super Saiyan was like riding a bike, a bike with knives for pedals, you do it once or twice and it becomes doable, this does not mean it does not bring about buttock-clenching pain.

'AHHHHHHHH' he screamed at the top of his voice. He felt the sting and his mind shuddered with momentary turmoil. The relief that came next could only be described as better than sex, it was as if a shell fragment had been removed from his mind and his body became close to weightless. He shot across the sky and begun to descend as the city became fields which in turn became mountains. A small round top house came into view and Gohan quickly landed. Relaxing his mind Gohan felt the one lock of hair touch his brow, indicating that he was no longer a blonde 'monster' as his mother put it. Fumbling with his keys he pushed the smallest one into it, as he did this, the door proceeded to open. Slowly looking up, Gohan was met with the steely gaze of his mother as a small vein pulsed in the corner of her brow.

'Ahhhh cock' he said, quite solemnly, preparing himself for the impending shitstorm.

Chi-Chi said nothing, she merely stared furiously at her son. Gohan suddenly realised she was expecting an explanation.

'Look Mum, I guess you're expecting an explanation as to why I did not come home last night'

'Oh, you came home last night'

'What? I did?' queried Gohan quite shocked.

'Yeah, yeah, you burst in through the front door at what, 1 in the morning and proclaimed that you loved Videl Satan, you then proceeded to walk into your room in which Goten was fast asleep and leave what appeared to be a note saying, 'Gozen, I luv u, fuk hataz'.

'Oh man, Mum I can explain'

'Oh it doesn't end there young man, you then crept into my room after making what I can only presume were the sounds of you throwing up into the toilet, shook me awake and asked me whether we had any petrol for you drink, before allowing me to answer, you had already wandered out the front door and shot off into the night sky'

As his mother had told him the story of last night Gohan's face had turned a bright rouge. Goten appeared by his mother's legs and asked his brother.

'Gohan, who's 'fuk hataz?'

'Uh huh huh' Gohan blurted out as he scratched the back of his head embarrassed, 'I'll tell some other time squirt'.

**DBZ**

Hercule stared at the fence protecting his house, impaled upon one of the spikes was what appeared to be a trouser leg.

'What in the world?'


	2. Lack of Understanding

I intended this to be two chapters rather than one, but the majority of the reviews seemed slightly confused as to what was going on, so I decided to try and make it clear in the second chapter, more shall be revealed in the third such as why Gohan is in this state. Thanks to all who reviewed, further reviews would be much appreciated.** For the song google lack of understanding song youtube.  
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><p><strong>Lack of Understanding<strong>

Gohan stumbled into the classroom and was met with the stare of each and every one of his classmates. He scanned the rows of desks in search of Videl, but she was nowhere to be seen. From the corner of his eye he saw a shock of blonde hair approaching him. It was Eraser.

'Uh, Gohan, Videl wanted me to ask you to call her at lunch to discuss last Saturday'.

'Last Saturday? Look Eraser, I have no idea what went on during Saturday, all I know is that we were all going out for drinks later that night and the only thing I can remember after that is waking up on Sunday'.

'I'm not the one you should discuss it with, Videl's pretty upset and confused at the moment, so I guess you should probably go talk to her'

'Why would she be upset?' asked Gohan cracking his knuckles, giving away his nervousness.

'You mean to tell me you seriously don't remember what happened, man, you must have been worse than we thought Gohan'.

With that, Eraser turned around and took her seat next to the now vacant one usually occupied by the azure eyed Videl. Gohan followed and took his seat to her right.

'This is going to be a long day' Gohan prophesised to himself. Luckily Sunday hadn't been that bad, other than having to do all of Goten's chores and his own, while also having to fix the trousers that he had ruined, his mother had been relatively lenient. He had heard all about these 'hangovers' that full blooded humans got, but being a Saiyan, he didn't seem to suffer from this ailment. Gohan's thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of the teacher, an interesting character, known as Mr King, who hailed from a Northerly region of England known as Lancashire.

'Right, erm, klass, today's leeearning objective is that we should, and 'opefully shall, know the process of osmosis, any questions?' he proclaimed in what seemed to Gohan a foreign language. He settled his mind and followed loosely what the tutor was saying, his deep dark onyx eyes following the teacher's movements across the room. He couldn't really concentrate, this was just a front, in the back of his mind there was a nagging thought.

'What the hell happened?'

Gohan was awoken from his daydream by the sharp ring of the bell and he watched as the class filed out of the single door in the corner of the classroom. Sensing that he was relatively alone, as alone as one could be in a high school, Gohan pulled out the mangled wreckage that he called his phone. Punching the keys he came to Videl's contact and his thumb hovered over the button indicating a green phone. He couldn't quite bring himself to push it, ignorance is bliss and all that, he'd just hide until the problem came to him, save him the effort of confronting it. He pushed more keys and came to another contact, Brian.

'Yeah Brian will give me the fix I need', he thought to himself as he pushed the green button and raised the phone to his ear.

'Hello?' answered a gritty, aggressive voice.

'Yeah, Brian, man, it's Gohan…you free at say…5?'

'Oh of course man, what will you be looking for this time?'

'Oh just the usual, see you then man'

'It's your lucky day ol' buddy, ol' pal, I've got more than usual, see if you can take this much'

With that, he was cut off, he was just about to put his artefact of a phone away when it excitedly buzzed in his hand, the screen read 'Incoming call, Videl'. Balls. Gohan once again raised the phone to his ear and pushed the magic green button.

'H-Hey Videl' he shakily answered.

'Gohan, I thought you might chicken out and not call me, would make sense. I've decided that discussing Saturday on the phone just isn't right, it's a bit too personal, are you free later?'

'Uh…personal?'

'Just answer the question'

'Um, I sh-should be free around 7? Is that okay?'

'Yes' and she was gone.

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><p>The rest of the school day seemed to pass Gohan like a blur. It was the build-up. The part before the headline act at a concert. The tension, annoyance, excitement all piled into one. Gohan was unsure whether he was excited or not, Videl didn't sound particularly impressed when she spoke to him on the phone and the usually bubbly Eraser seemed more subdued than ever. Even Sharpener hadn't cracked any jokes, in fact, he had entirely ignored Gohan, it's not like Gohan wanted his insults today, but some attention would have been nice, in a twisted sort of way. When the final bell rung Gohan's heart was racing, he left the classroom without uttering a word to anyone and carried on down the corridor toward the stairwell that led to the roof when it suddenly struck him.<p>

'Shit, Brian's gonna be waiting outside the school for me, that's totally what I need' he halted by the first step 'Actually, that IS what I need, get my mind off all this shit for at least two hours.'

Leaving the stairwell he proceeded to the entrance to the school and quietly exited, doing his best to not raise any suspicion as to why he was holding a rather large wad of cash in his left hand. He scanned the area just beyond the school gates and saw an average sized man with brown hair wearing an interesting ensemble of what appeared to be a t-shirt, tie and a pair of ripped Levi jeans, Brian. Walking furtively up to the fashionista he put on his best Clint Eastwood voice.

'You got the stuff?' he asked in the gravely tone.

Brian looked at him quizzically, contemplating the reasons behind this interesting change in voice.

'Uh, riiiight, yeah I do, but most importantly my spiky haired friend, do you have the money? I know it's cliché, but I like the sound of it.' He replied pointing toward Gohan's left hand.

'I wanna see the shit first, you know I could beat seven shades a shit outta you Brian, now show me what you have' Gohan returned gruffly, already allowing his Saiyan arrogance get the better of him. He never liked these deals taking long, but what he hated more than anything in the world was being taken advantage of, and for sure he wasn't gonna let some lowlife scum like this do it.

'Wohoho, Gohan, ol' pal, let's not be rude to your good friend Brian, who's just tryin to help you out, I mean, if you were to beat 'seven shades a shit' outta me, who would serve you your stuff, now stop being a fucker and…show…me…the…money'. Brian was uneasy, he never liked serving this guy, I mean yeah he didn't know the first thing about proper production, but he was always on edge when he served him, he'd already been attacked several times before in deals and it wasn't a nice experience.

'Okay, okay, okay, I get you, how much is it?' there was something quite peculiar about Brian's voice and manner. It was convincing and persuasive, he was quite intoxicating, maybe it was all the time he spent around this type of crap.

'200 straight, I'm giving you a good deal here guy, Brian's good to his customers and Brian expects them to act in the same way' Of course 200 was more than the shit was worth but hey, as far as he had heard this guy had only just become acquainted with city life, easy money, EASY money.

Gohan pulled four notes out of the wad and handed them over to his shepherd. Brian pulled out a brown paper bag and gave it to the young Saiyan.

'This shit is gonna blow your fuckin mind' said Brian in an excited tone.

'Enough with the clichés, seriously'.

Gohan was awoken from his daze by his phone's alarm. He looked down at his phone, perched nicely on the corner of the park bench on which he was sat, '6.30' it read.

'Gohan you dawg, setting an alarm like that, wah, shit, I need to get my head straight, Videl won't appreciate me appearing on her porch in this kinda state, maybe the walk will sort me out' he thought to himself. Gohan got up from the bench and begun walking to a nearby gate when he suddenly recognised where he was, the very same park he had been in last Sunday.

'What the hell is it about this park?'

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><p>Videl lay on her bed. She hadn't been looking forward to this. She had lied to her Dad about wanting to train with him to get out of school. School just wasn't gonna happen. Not after Saturday. She couldn't face it. She looked up at the clock and saw the time '6.57'.<p>

'Gohan should be hear soon enough, get every minute out of the time he has left alive before I murder him' she said to herself playfully. Three minutes later there was a ring at the doorbell, Videl got off her bed, vacated her room and walked down the spiral staircase toward the hallway. Luckily her Dad was out at the moment, God knows where, but at least he was out. She halted before the door to hear the sound of gagging.

'Oookay, this is interesting' mustering up her courage she put her hand on the door handle and pushed it down. The sight she was met with would live with her to her dying day. There stood before her was Gohan, well not stood, more perched against one of the supporting columns that held up the roof of her porch. His eyelids were half shut and he looked pretty unaware of what was going on around him. He wore his usual white shirt with a black waistcoat and his red trousers. However, the trousers weren't red, they were more of a browny, dirty colour. There was a profuse smell of, she couldn't quite believe it, this must explain the interesting coloured trousers. Gohan had shit himself.

'Gohan! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?' she screamed at the top of her voice. Searching for a reason as to why this young man had managed to shit his own pants. Did they not have toilets where he was from?

'Ohhh V-Videl, fiiiiiinally, you know I've tried every single one of these houses, and here you are, man, I feel great'. He looked at her cheekily, confused as to why she had screamed at him.

Videl didn't know what to do, she couldn't just leave him on her doorstep, what would the neighbours say? She had to help him.

'C-come on in Gohan and…take your trousers and pants off'.

'Ohh? So soon? Well, I never reject a young lady in need' he replied, winking out her not once, but three times, forgetting twice that he had already winked at her. He began to undo his belt there in the hallway when Videl stopped him.

'NOT IN HERE YOU IDIOT! IN THE BATHROOM, first door on the left' she finished sweetly.

'Oooooo, in the shower, I like your style' he whispered 'sexily'.

Having managed to transport Gohan's stained garments from behind the bathroom door with the aid of rubber gloves to the washing machine had been no easy feat. Manoeuvring Gohan out of the bathroom without seeing his article had been like climbing Everest, she'd already seen it recently, and once in three days was enough for her. She turned on the shower and told him to get in it, only to get out when his clothes were done. This all having been achieved she looked at her watch '10.21' it read. Gohan stood fully dressed for the first time in god knows, swaying slightly but keeping it together, he was unbelievable.

'What was it this time Gohan? Skunk? Heroin?' she asked furiously.

'Ketamine actually, and lot's of it, iss naice' he replied, doing his best Borat impression.

'Get out Gohan, I can't talk to you like this, there's no point'. She pushed him to the door where he subsequently tripped and fell out allowing her ample time to slam it behind him.

Gohan got up and dusted himself off, what the furrrrrck was going on? He couldn't even remember each step he took right after he had taken it.

'Man that shit I took was heavy, need to lay off a bit' he said as his phone began to ring, 'Incoming call, Brian' it read. 'What could he want?' Gohan said to himself as he lifted the train crash to his ear.

'Heeeey Gohan, me and my boys, well, me and my boys we're going out for some clubbing man, you ever been clubbing? It's the best, chicks everywhere, you wanna come? We got PLENTY a shit.' Screamed the angry voice down the phone, Gohan couldn't say no, that stuff had made him forget entirely why he was at Videl's anyway.

'Where are ya? I'm up for anything dude'

'Ah sweet meet us at Crossmain Boulevard, we are gonna get our drink on'


	3. Brianstorm

Thank you for the reviews, they are extremely helpful. I know this story isn't quite with the nature of the original series, but I've tried to put as realistic twist on Gohan being introduced to high school life without any preperation as possible. For this chapter** Google Brianstorm.  
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><p><strong>Brianstorm<strong>

Gohan did not entirely know where Crossmain Boulevard was, he'd only been in this city for a month and in his current state, he could barely tie his shoelaces let alone walk in a straight line. He let his feet carry him wherever they wanted to go, he no longer had control, he shouted at passers-by, hardly knowing what he had said. Street lights began to intermingle into one shining light as he collapsed around the darkened streets of Satan City, his phone must have rung twice, but he hardly had the wherewithal to answer that abortion of a machine. When it rung a third time, Gohan had finally begun to sober up, his legs were now moving a in a generally sane motion. He rummaged through his pockets and whipped out the device.

'Hellooo, Son Gohan speaking, how may I bloody well help you?' he asked the unknown caller.

'Fuckbrain, where the hell are you? Me and MY BOYS, have been waitin' for half an hour, we'll come to you, tell me the street you're on' came Brian's aggressive tone, Gohan was unsure whether he put the tone on purpose or if he was born with it, must have been quite an intimidating baby. Pulling himself out of his trance-like state Gohan searched the walls of the surrounding houses for a street sign.

'Uh, uh, uh AH HA, we are on Dorville Road, you know where that is?' Gohan began to become gradually unsure of what he was doing as the drugs began to wear off, did he really want to be doing this? ON A SCHOOL NIGHT no least.

'Yeah yeah I know where that is, we'll be there in five, don't you move a god damn muscle, you are gonna thank me when we get to where I'm taking you'

'Hey Br-Brian, I'm not sure about this man, I think I should go home, my mother's probably pretty upset right now, considering it's…'Gohan quickly checked his watch, '1:20' 'HOLY SHIT, it's 1:20, man I really have to be going home.'

'What? Go home? Look Gohan, my buddy, it's already 1:20, your mother will be as upset as she'll ever get, you're already past that special line when late becomes 'really late', just wait there and we'll be with you in a few seconds'. Brian had to be putting it on, how even old was Brian? Ahh who gave a shit more importantly.

'I guess, I'll be waiting.' The phone cut-off, Gohan was nervous, guilty and excited. He didn't want to upset his mother, but he probably already had and he had never been clubbing before, what was it like? Was it like bars? Gohan could do bars, nice relaxed atmosphere, but a club was a whole new idea to him. Gohan could hear voices approaching from down the street, and over the brow of the hill, at the bottom of which he sat, came 4 bodies, being led by what appeared to be his good ol' pal Brian.

'GOHAN! GOHAN! FUCK MAN! FINALLY! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE' screamed the first body, his words were slurred and he seemed unsure of what he was saying, both fantastic signs that he was drunk. Gohan got up and walked up the hill toward them, the details of their outfits becoming more and more apparent as he came ever closer. He had been right in assuming the lead figure was Brian, the rest of the characters seemed to be dressed in pretty similar outfits to their 'leader'. Other than the tie, that was obviously Brian's signature touch, at least it was skinny tie, made it a little less strange.

'He-Hey Brian, who're your friends?' Gohan was unsure whether he actually wanted to know, knowing one of these arseholes was enough of a problem for him.

'Ahh Gohan, where are my manners?' He pointed to a burly, large gentleman wearing surprisingly enough a green t-shirt and jeans. 'This is Frank, bit on the large side, great great lad'. He moved onto the second body, this one was far skinnier and taller than any of the others, lanky was an understatement 'Barry, funny funny guy, great great lad'. Finally he got the third body, he was far closer to Brian in build but was lacking the tie, like all others 'This is Gary, my right hand man Gary is, been with him since day one, well that's enough about this bunch of tossers, let's get fucking ratfaced!'.

The group moved on, leading Gohan deeper into the city, they passed neon signs and take-aways. Until they came to a small shop where the entire group came to a halt, Brian turned to him.

'Me and Gary are just going in to get some drinks, we'll be out in a few seconds' with that he pushed the door open and moved out of sight leaving Gohan with fat boy Frank and well, Barry. Awkward. Awkward. Awkward. Every second seemed to last a lifetime, had Gohan been less sober it may have been okay, but right now he was entirely aware of his surroundings and as such, had nothing to talk to them about. When Brian and Gary emerged, Gohan breathed a quiet sigh of relief. A large bottle of Jack Daniels was thrust into his right hand and an even large bottle of Smirnoff was placed in his left hand. He unscrewed the cap of each bottle and looked quizzically at Brian.

'Drink them you idiot' he revealed. Gohan had never drunk either of these beverages, but he was up for anything. He lifted the bottle of Smirnoff to his lips and took a large swig. His throat instantly screamed murder at his hands. The sensation was like none he had ever felt before, and he had turned into a Super Saiyan before. He wanted to feel it again. Quickly as the group proceeded to their destination, Gohan's movement became looser and looser. It was happening, he was descending into that drunken state, the state in which he forgot all his problems, forgot that his father was dead, forgot it all. The time seemed to pass him by and he hardly realised that they had moved into a building, lights were flashing everywhere, loud music was playing and everyone seemed to be having a great time. He tried to find Brian amongst the crowd he had become part of but to no avail, before he could panic his legs begun to move to the rhythm of the beat. Women seemed to be taking an interest in him, dancing quite close to his crotch, oh if his mother could see him now. He tapped one on the shoulder and asked her the best he could.

'Scuse, 'Scuse me, do-do you know where weeee are?' flashing her a bashful toothy grin. She wasn't half bad, she had long blonde hair and her plainish looks were made far more beautiful by the amount of cleavage that she was showing off. She was no Videl though, a nice pair of tits wasn't enough to make her better than Videl, she had substance, she had spunk for the want of a better word. She brought his head closer to his and whispered in his ear.

'Wherever you want us to be baby'

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><p>Chi-Chi lifted the phone to her ear, Gohan hadn't picked up once tonight and she had no idea where he was. While she was sure that he could handle himself in whatever situation it was now lunch time and he still hadn't appeared.<p>

'Hello?' came the shrill answer, Bulma's voice had always annoyed Chi-Chi but now was not the time to succumb to petty annoyances.

'Bulma, Bulma, Gohan didn't come home last night, and he still hasn't come back' she was close to tears, Gohan seemed to be destroying himself and there was nothing she could do to stop him.

'Calm down Chi, Gohan's a strong guy, I'm sure he's okay, I'll send Vegeta out to look for him' a shout came shortly after this 'I am not your errand boy woman! The boy can look after himself and if he can't then he's a disgrace to the Saiyan race!' After a few muffled whispers Bulma's shill tone came back down the line, causing Chi-Chi to wince slightly.

'He'll do his best Chi-Chi'

'Oh thank you Bulma, you don't know how relieved I am, have a nice day, bye.'

Vegeta shot through the air, searching for Gohan's energy, 'It shouldn't be too difficult to find, while the brat may be the spawn of Kakarot he's still strong enough to be able to find without much effort' he thought to himself.

A surge of heat flourished in his left temple, Vegeta followed the direction the heat in his brain was indicating, it acted much like a GPS. The heat became ever more intense as he followed it until suddenly it disappeared. Vegeta scanned his surroundings, he had managed to make his way to a small rocky enclave on an island not too far from where Cell had absorbed Android 18, a moment which Vegeta was not proud of, his arrogance had almost cost the world its existence, this was the least he could do for the boy who had saved not only him but the world. He descended to the ground and decided to look amongst the small boulders for him. Passing by the largest boulder on the island he found spotted a spike of what could only be Saiyan hair. Moving closer he found Gohan slumped against a rock, in a pile of his own vomit. The anger seethed in his brow.


	4. I'm A Realist

I have decided to begin replying to reviews directly. Far more polite and all that.

**MRMenaMRM: **All will be revealed as to why Gohan has become a drunken idiot. I know I'm taking seriouss liberties with Gohan's character, but I hope it all makes sense in the end.

**SweetGhost: **I'm glad you enjoy my story, I enjoy your reviews as well. I'll admit, Gohan is a massive waster atm, but it's all working toward something. Also, we'll se about the parties.

**animal videl: **I'm delighted you enjoyed the chapter, it is reviews frompeople such as yourself that give me the impetus to keep writing. Sorry about the lack of Videl currently in the story, she will appear more frequently as the story goes along.

Sorry about the length of time it's taken me to update. Holidays and that, also I'm lazy. The song for this chapter is **I'm A Realist by The Cribs**.

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><p><strong>I'm A Realist<strong>

'Get up boy'.

No answer.

'Get UP boy!'

Still, no answer.

Vegeta was beginning to lose what small amount of restraint on his temper he had. This…disgrace…was arguably the strongest being in the entire universe and here he was, passed out, lying in a pile of his own waste. Words would never work on someone in as pitiful state as this, action had to be taken. Vegeta cracked his knuckles and walked toward the incapacitated 'Saiyan' strewn before him. Raising his flattened right hand above his left shoulder, he crashed the side of Gohan's face with what could only be described as a 'bitch slap'. Gohan's face rocked sideways, his tongue lolling out of his ragdoll mouth. Again, Vegeta crashed the back of his hand against Gohan's face, with even more force this time, enough to crush a normal man's jaw. Gohan stirred, disturbing a small chunklet of vomit still left on his chin, it floated from his face to Vegeta's whiter than white boots. The Saiyan Prince grimaced, it seemed that the boy was beyond controlling his body, the saying goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it, well, Vegeta was most entirely sure that Gohan was broken, thus he needed fixing and he only knew one way. He wrapped his hand around the young half-breed's vomit stained neck and lifted him above his head, but not his hair, he couldn't reach that high, leant back and catapulted his body into the air, hoping the sudden intake of air into his body would awake him.

Gohan wasn't sure how he ended up plummeting through the air, in fact, he wasn't entirely sure why he was covered in vomit, or why he felt like his brain was gradually becoming unstuck from the interior of his skull; the only things he did know was that the ground hurt from this distance and the sun was seriously pissed off with him. He forced his mind into gear; pushing his ki behind his back he felt himself gradually coming to a stop and eventually floating in mid-air. Every movement he made was exhausting, pushing himself with his ki into a standing position felt like an eternity. Having completed the arduous process of righting himself Gohan took stock of his surroundings. He recognised the area as being vaguely like the islands on which 18 had been absorbed, but then again, these islands all looked pretty similar, it was their lack of personality; just rock and grass. A large spike of black hair caught his eye, it could only belong to Vegeta, even by Saiyan standards, his hair seemed to defy the laws of physics. Must be something to do with royal blood, or some shit, that's what Vegeta would say anyway. Vegeta wasn't standing on one of the islands however, no, he was coming straight at Gohan, quite rapidly in fact, and he didn't look happy, nope, not one bit. However, Vegeta always looked pissed off; it was hard to tell when he was ACTUALLY pissed off.

'Oh look, the idiot brat spawn of Kakarot finally decided to wake up!' Vegeta shouted at him as he came to a halt 20 yards away from him. He was such a dick. They all played along with him, letting him be a cock about everything, but one of these days Gohan was going to smack the shit out of him.

'What's going on Vegeta? I mean, here I am, in the middle of fucking nowhere with you of all people, could you enlighten me, please?' Gohan replied gruffly. He hadn't intended to be so short with Vegeta but the headache he had was rather unbearable.

'You are telling me, that you, a Saiyan, sorry, not just a Saiyan, a Saiyan of incredible power, have no recollection of how you came to be in this state, you make me sick, you're a disgrace to your ancestors' The boy had done it now, how dare he think that he could speak that way to the great Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyans.

'Look Vegeta, I have a splitting headache and all this shouting isn't helping right now, you can either waste your time and breath berating about how much of a disgrace I am, ORRR, you could fill me in on what has happened.' Why did he always have to be like this? It made everything so boring and loooooong.

'Oh, you want to know how you came to be here? Well 'sadly' I can't explain that to you, you'll have to work that one out for yourself, but what I do know is that I have been forced to come find your sorry arse at the bidding of your mother and have subsequently found you, passed out in your sick. So, no, I'm not the one who needs to do the explaining, that is you.'

'For the love of God, Vegeta just FUCK OFF, I don't need to explain myself to anyone, not you, not Bulma and not my mother, you can all go to hell' Gohan was losing control. The Saiyan anger taking over, his headache had been bad when he woke up, but now it was insufferable, mix that with the burning pain that came with transforming into a Super Saiyan and you had quite a cocktail. He rushed straight at Vegeta, with the intention of debilitating him severely, he stopped short however, he neither had the energy to maintain a Super Saiyan state nor the energy to actually continue flying, it was all gone. He felt himself dropping again, dropping into the abyss.

Gohan awoke, again. He was no longer on the islands however, no, he was inside the gravity chamber that Bulma had built for Vegeta. He was sitting with his back against one of the walls of the chamber with Vegeta standing over him, smirking like the tosser he was.

'Ah, back in the land of the living I see, but, what's this I smell? Alcohol? Well, I can only assume you're still not quite sober enough to talk to us, guess I'll just have to leave you in here for a while, see if you can get a hold of yourself, got anything to say to that, boy?' Vegeta seemed to be enjoying this, the power he had over one as strong as Gohan, it must have stirred a feeling of joy in him.

'Fuck off' Gohan murmured in reply.

'Gladly, but just before I go, I want to ask you a question, is that okay?' Vegeta asked in a mock sympathetic tone.

'Bite me'

'I'll ask anyway, what do you think your father would say if he saw you like this?' Before Gohan could reply, Vegeta had walked out of the chamber and locked the door behind him. Vegeta could have stood there for hours and Gohan would have called him every name under the sun, but that wouldn't have changed the fact that Vegeta, for once, was actually right. Gohan knew the answer, he had known the answer all along, but why did it matter? His father was dead, and had been for years now. But it wasn't just Goku that Gohan knew he had disappointed, his mother, Bulma, Vegeta and worst of all Videl. Their relationship was beyond repair after what had happened, it was all going right for him and he had just fucked it up. He, the strongest being in the universe, had allowed himself to lose control of his life and let it wallow in a pile of shit. A line from the Robert Burns' poem 'To A Mouse' came to mind, 'The best-laid schemes o'mice an' men gang aft agley, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For promis'd joy!' which translated roughly into plain English as 'The best laid schemes of mice and men go often askew, And leave us nothing but grief and pain, For promised joy!'. He'd let everyone down and let himself down. Gohan contemplated wallowing in his own self-pity until Vegeta got round to letting him out, but the headache was still there and still hurt like an absolute bitch, the best course of action appeared to be sleep; Gohan laid back his head and let himself drift off into the land of slumber.

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><p>A bang awoke Gohan. It was the third time today that he had been woken up, and he was beginning to become frustrated.<p>

'I hope you're fit and ready because I've given you as much time as I can be bothered, sitting outside this tin can can get quite monotonous it seems' Vegeta bawled at him. Gohan lifted himself onto his feet and stared at Vegeta.

'You were outside the entire time? I must have been in here for, what, four hours? Why would you do that?'

'The woman threatened to cook for me, don't worry, I didn't do it out of respect for you or anything of that kind, in fact, I couldn't find you more pitiful right now if you tried'

'Man, Vegeta, you're whipped'

'Now is not the time to try my patience brat, come with me' Vegeta turned away and marched through the opened door and out of the chamber. Gohan followed suit, curious to see what Vegeta had to show him. They walked across the grounds of Capsule Corp. to the front door of the living quarters. Vegeta punched in the code for the door and waited impatiently, tapping his foot, as the security system scanned his eyes, confirming that it was him. They passed through the front door and proceeded onward to the lift. An awkward period of waiting ensued again as they waited for the lift. Once the lift arrived, the awkwardness that had sprung up whist they were waiting for the lift itself only got worse. The soothing rasp of a saxophone echoed around the surprisingly spacious lift. Attempting to add to the atmosphere already created by the two mirrored walls and wooden furnishings.

'Who actually writes this shit?' Gohan thought to himself 'It's so bland and bad, do all lifts come with it programmed in them or is there an actual CD you can buy which has all these songs on it, the phrase 'lift music' is used for a reason'. Gohan's thoughts were interrupted by the ominous ding as the doors of the lift opened. Vegeta stepped out and led him down another corridor, painted the same pale yellow as every other wall in the house. They came to a door which Vegeta opened and held open for his prisoner. Gohan peered into the room. There was a long rectangular, see-through table with curved edges, around which was sat, Chi-Chi, Bulma and now Vegeta. In the corner of the room stood Piccolo.

'Ahhh fuck'


	5. No Kind Words

**MRMenaMRM: **I'm touched that you're enjoying my story. It makes it so much easier to write these things when you know that you have an audience of sorts. In terms of storyline, you're pretty close in terms of what I'm heading for, but enough clues.

**animal videl:** Patience is a virtue. Narh fuck that. I totally understand what you mean, I have been taking my sweet time about it, sorry for that, will it be in this chapter? We shall see...

The song for this story is **No Kind Words by The Maccabees**, check it out, it's a nice tune, the title fit quite nicely with the story as well, which was nice, yeah, nice.**  
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><p><strong>No Kind Words<strong>

'You can stop using that awful language of yours Gohan right now; I did not raise my son to speak like a common tramp!' Chi Chi screamed at her child. She had remained relatively grounded throughout Gohan's problem period, but now was her chance to let it all out, let him know how much he had embarrassed and disappointed her.

'Now is not the time Chi! We are not here to treat Gohan like a child and chastise him for what he's done, I'm sure he recognises the error of his ways.' Bulma warned Chi Chi sternly. She was hoping Vegeta's presence may give her some support in calming Gohan's mother down; she was quite a temperamental woman to say the least.

'Not the time Bulma? NOT THE TIME? When else am I going to get a chance? He's barely ever at home; he's normally off drinking or getting hookers or selling himself or whatever he does.'

'Hookers Mum? Really?' Gohan chirped in, he knew he had indulged in some pretty reprehensible things, but paid sex was definitely not one of them, well, he couldn't remember doing it at least.

'You keep quiet for now Gohan, now Chi, just calm down, we're not here to act the angry parents are we? We're here to help Gohan, that's why Piccolo is here, or did you forget?' Chi Chi humphed, crossed her arms and sat down angrily, turning her face away from her son.

'Woman can we hurry this up? As much as I enjoy seeing the spawn of Kakarot being put in his place, I would like the opportunity to be able to train at some point in the day!'

'Oh would you just can it Vegeta! Right, okay, now Gohan, we think that it would be best for you, if you took some time off school, got away from everything and spent some time with yourself, let you confront your demons, you know?' Bulma's request seemed reasonable enough, but Gohan was still unsure as to why Piccolo had been invited to this 'Intervention' of sorts.

'Yeah, that…sounds…cool I guess, but, I mean, I don't know, do you actually trust me on my own?'

'Oh, erm, no, you see, this is where Piccolo comes into things, we believe that it would be…' Bulma clicked her thumb quickly as she tried to think of a good word '…agreeable…if were Piccolo to accompany and assist you in re-discovering yourself' Piccolo moved out of the shadows and stared solemnly at the 'patient'.

'Sooo, what you're effectively asking me to do, is go out into the wilderness with Piccolo, like when I was younger, and train?'

'YES! FUCK ME! How long does this have to take?' Vegeta rose out of his chair and bared down on the bored looking Gohan 'You are going to train with Piccolo and you WILL come back a better person, got it? No buts, no ifs, nothing! You are going to do this! All this talking is driving me mad. I'll be in the kitchen if anyone wants me.' With that Vegeta stamped out of the meeting room, slamming the door behind him, in the process of doing so breaking it clean off its hinges. Bulma and Chi Chi were silent. Seeing another Saiyan of such capabilities must have been having a larger effect on Vegeta than they had imagined. Piccolo silently walked toward Gohan, standing beside him, he placed his hand on Gohan's shoulder.

'I won't force you to do this Gohan, but I am more than willing to help you in your time of need, if you agree to it, I will do all I can to assist you' Gohan cared about Piccolo's opinion more than anyone else's, other than his father's of course. He was the closest thing to a Godfather that he had. Gohan nodded his head slowly, took Piccolo's hand off his shoulder and rose to his feet. He looked to his mother, then Bulma and finally to Piccolo, a small smile appearing on his face.

'I wouldn't want anyone else with me'

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><p>Goten bounded into Gohan's room happily. This was the first time he had actually seen his brother in a couple of days for more than an hour. Gohan, who was dressing himself in a dark blue Gi, smiled at his younger brother.<p>

'Gohan, where are you going?' Goten had stopped just inside the door and now was looking up at the tall frame of his brother.

'Just away for a couple of weeks squirt, do a bit of training, get myself back into proper shape, a vacation I guess, why'd you ask?'

_Noise_

'Woah, slow down little man, what are you trying to say?' Goten always spoke this quickly when he was nervous or excited. It didn't help that at this age he swallowed many of the endings of his words, meaning that sometimes it sounded like he was speaking an entirely different language.

'I just wanted to ask I guess…' Goten looked down at the floor and fidgeted with the belt of his gi nervously. Gohan knelt down and put his hand on Goten's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

'What is it?'

'Can I come with you?' Goten looked up at his older brother, hope shining in his eyes. Gohan hadn't expected that, he knew that Goten looked up to him, but this was something new, he was trying to become like him, a warm feeling of pride flourished in his stomach.

'I'd be happy for you to come man, but you're gonna have to ask Mum and also, you do know that I won't be with you, you'll be on your own and will have to fend for yourself?' Gohan was unsure whether his brother knew how much of a task it was. While, yes, he was a Super Saiyan, which would definitely make life easier, he had never done anything like this before and Gohan remembered how arduous he had found it at first.

'Uhhuhuhhuh, yeah I know, this is gonna be so great!' He skipped happily out of the room to find his mother, a few minutes later Chi Chi appeared at the door and stared at her son.

'Are you sure Goten will be okay?'

'Yeah, he'll be fine, I wasn't half as strong as him when I was his age and look how much good it did for me, Piccolo will be there too, so it'll be okay' Gohan was doing his best to sound as articulate as possible. He had realised how much he must have upset his mother through his actions and was doing his best to make it up to her. 'Oh, and Mum, you rang the school right? And also, don't want to sound too…strange, but erm, yeah, could youuuu…tell me what day it is?'

'Yes and it's Sunday Gohan, Vegeta found you on Saturday'. Chi Chi was obviously doing her best to not sound angry, but he could feel the fury radiating off her. He had really done it.

'Thanks Mum'

'Okay, but understand one thing, if Goten gets hurt in anyway, and I mean a bruise, scratch, coma, anything, I'll blame it on you' having said her piece, Chi Chi gave her son a fierce glare and stalked away.

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><p>'How far away are we Piccolo?' They had been flying for a good twenty minutes and were well out of sight of civilisation of any kind. It seemed that Piccolo wanted to make doubly sure, that if Gohan did try to get away from him, it would take him some time to actually do so.<p>

'5 minutes' Piccolo had never been one for words. He let his actions speak for him rather than messing around; straight to the point, made him quite very easy to dislike, but Gohan had understood this of Piccolo for a long time and it had rubbed off on him a little. Goten's pace was slowly dropping off, he was obviously tiring, Gohan knew Piccolo would be aware of this, probably the reason why they were stopping so soon.

'Gooooohaaaaaan, I'm tiiiiiiiiiiiiiired, when are we going to stop?' Goten obviously had fallen so far behind the pace that he hadn't heard Piccolo. Gohan looked down at the ground flashing past them, it was wooded and there looked to be a source of freshwater nearby, indicated by the presence of a small stream that seemed to be winding its way through the trees.

'Hey Piccolo! This spot seems as good as any; Goten seems to be struggling with the pace, why don't we just stop here?' Piccolo could be difficult to reason with, but he hoped that now he was a little older Piccolo might trust his opinion a little more, even if he had just been through a period of serious turmoil.

'Fine.' They slowly dropped to the ground, minding to avoid the trees as they descended, looking out for any openings that might act as a sort of starting point for their training. Gohan picked out a small patch of open ground in which a fallen tree lay, but before he could call out to Piccolo, his former trainer had already begun to move toward it. He checked behind him to ensure that Goten had seen where they were heading for, Goten had seen and was now flying at his own speed 10 metres or so behind Gohan, he slowed for his younger brother, Goten getting hurt was definitely bottom of his current to-do list. Piccolo touched the ground with a small clap and waited patiently for the dangerous brothers to join him, Gohan now flying side by side with Goten, they righted themselves into a standing position and fell gracefully to the ground, landing on either side of Piccolo. Piccolo folded his arms and looked at the young child indifferently, the similarities with Goku were eerie, hair and all, then again, he could hardly talk, the only differences most off-worlders could tell between individual Namekians was brow shape, height and in the Grand Elder Guru's case, weight.

'You ready for this Goten?' He was half hoping the child would re-consider, he'd rather not have that psycho bitch on his case again; but knowing he was Goku's son, he wasn't going to place his bets on it.

'I sure am Mr Piccolo, when do we start?' he inquired, his emotions reflecting in his large onyx eyes as he stared up at his morose alien tutor.

'Right now' Piccolo took two quick steps behind Goten and before either him or his brother could react, he launched a stinging kick into the child's back, sending him shooting through the trees. Piccolo's eyesight and marksmanship were hawk like; he had covered every angle of flight's trajectory making sure that the young boy would hit the ground before he broke his back on one of very solid trees that populated the surrounding area. Gohan stared at his former mentor in shock, he remembered Piccolo being a rough teacher, but this rough? This was almost child cruelty.

'Puh-Puh-Piccolo, I don't remember you doing that when I started fending for myself!' He could only trust that Piccolo had got his calculations right, it was his head on the line after all.

'You weren't a Super Saiyan when you started, thought I might make it a little more challenging for him, now are you ready to get started?' Piccolo always had an answer for anything, to those he didn't know it came across as cynicism or arrogance, but to those close to him, well, as close as you could be to Piccolo, they knew that Piccolo was normally right, he rarely made mistakes.

'Uh hehehe, as ready as I'll ever be I guess' he timidly replied to Piccolo as the famous Son grin gradually plastered itself across his reddening face as he rubbed the back of his head.

'Right, we will start with you telling me how it happened.' Gohan hadn't expected this, he was hoping that he would be able to train his demons away in silence, lose himself in his thoughts and that Piccolo was only there to supervise him.

'Erm, what do you mean? How I became…' Gohan was struggling for words; he wasn't sure how to phrase his situation without embarrassing himself, Piccolo's opinion was extremely important to Gohan and he knew he must have already fallen in his estimation a little.

'A useless drunk, with no control over his emotions looking for an escape that wasn't there rather than confronting his problems?' Piccolo always knew how to cut him to the bone, he was like a miniature Buddha covered in fur, wait, no, that's not right, a green Buddha…from another planet? No, Piccolo was, yeah well, you know what I mean.

'Yeah, yeah…yeah' Gohan was unsure as to what to say to that. What could you say? The truth hurt, that's why people lied so often, no one wanted to get hurt. But it would pile up eventually, each little white lie, growing and growing until it broke out, causing as much havoc as possible. But you had to accept, people were always going to get hurt, the earlier you got the hurt out the way, the better; gave you more time to forget about it, or wallow in it, whatever floats your boat. There was a short tense silence as Piccolo waited for his former tutee to start, Gohan could be frustrating sometimes, he would retreat into a shell and protect himself from the outside world; lose himself.

'Why don't we take a seat Gohan? Take as long as you want, start whenever you like, I know this will be difficult, admitting your own failings always is, but only through that can we become better people.' As Piccolo spoke Gohan lifted himself onto the trunk of the fallen tree, balanced himself and sat crossed leg with his arms crossed, deep in thought. Piccolo stared at the black haired youth as he tried to come to terms with what he saw, here was a Saiyan, possibly the most cocksure race of people in the entire universe, at a loss for words. Gohan lifted his left hand; index pointed, as if to start, but quickly replaced it over his other arm. Piccolo really couldn't believe what he was seeing, while Gohan was a naturally compassionate person, he had not expected him to exhibit these types of human traits. All throughout the time that Piccolo had known this child he been somewhat away with the faeries, much like his father of course, but something had changed within the boy. Was it puberty? He refused to believe a process like that would have such a dramatic effect upon one as mentally stable as Gohan, but here he was, potentially the most powerful being in the universe, the kid who quite literally single-handedly defeated Cell, unsure of himself, or who he was. Had the same thing happened with Goku? It didn't seem to be Saiyan trait, never before had he encountered a group of people as unflappable as them. Maybe this was the humanity in Gohan, he had to have inherited something from his mother, and he certainly hadn't got her lovely sense of humour. For crying out loud, this kid had killed with a swipe of his hand and here he was wrapped up in his awareness of himself. Piccolo decided that Gohan needed some encouragement, as patient as he was, it hurt a little to see such a powerful warrior reduced to this.

'Okay, Gohan, how about you tell me when the first time you got drunk was…maybe we can go on from there and work out why you've been doing this to yourself.' Piccolo was sure Gohan already knew why he had been doing this to himself, all Piccolo needed was for Gohan to admit why he had been doing it to himself for them to make some progress.

'Well I guess it was on the…third? Fourth? Friday of school…'

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><p>Eraser stared at her best friend in shock, she couldn't believe what she was hearing, it was golden yet horrifying at the same time…she would HAVE to tell the other girls about this one.<p>

'You're kidding! That cannot be true…like…he turned up to your door, drunk, totally spaced and worst of all with SHIT in his PANTS. That's not Gohan…Gohan's the adorable guy with the toothy grin who's totally unaware of social norms.' She half-hoped it was true, half-hoped it wasn't, she loved gossip but she didn't like to hear of a friend of hers in a state like that, it wasn't one of those 'haha you were so totally fucking fucked man' type of stories it was one of those 'and that's when we found the tearful voicemail he had left her' stories.

'I wish I were Eraser, I really do, it was so messed up…I don't really wanna talk about it anymore, I feel a bit sick as it is. You won't tell anyone will you?' Videl was regretting telling Eraser. As much as she loved her, just like everyone else, she had her failings, gossiping was her biggest. Eraser was still undecided in her own mind as to whether or not she would, but her answer was going to be the same no matter what her real intentions were.

'No, of course not Videl, this is between you and Gohan, as far as I'm concerned, I don't even know what you're referring to' Videl laughed, not a spontaneous laugh like a baby's rather a forced one, a friendly gesture, as to recognise that her friend had made a joke and that this was the polite thing to do. She had heard the poorly hidden uncertainty in Eraser's voice, but this was to be expected of her. Videl surveyed their surroundings. It had been Eraser's idea to go shopping, said she needed to get some new shoes, which was her weekly excuse. They were sat at a table in the corner of a Taco Bell. Of the restaurants on offer it was the middle ground, it was fast-food, but a little better than say McDonald's or Burger King, although in terms of nutrition, that wasn't difficult. She didn't really care, she hadn't eaten anything anyway. Her incident with Gohan had destroyed her appetite for the next few weeks or so. Eraser, on the other hand, she was reminiscent of Gohan, for a girl of her size, she ate her fair share. Either she had a superhuman metabolism of she was the most prized customer at one of her Dad's many gyms. Someone had to be. As a building the shopping centre in which the Taco Bell sat was one of the better ones. They had avoided that _other_ one, Videl never enjoyed going there, it wasn't the building, it wasn't the people, no, it was the name. Her father was an astute businessman, ever since Cell her father had been more involved in the self-marketing business than martial arts, and cousin; business is a-boomin'. Her father did not know subtlety; to him, subtlety was taking a crap and not calling his friends to come over to admire it. He had endorsed that shopping centre, the pay-cheque had been nice and meaty, but they had also given him free rein over what it would be called. He, being the modest gentleman he was, had settled for the title 'Hercule's Extravagantastic Megadrome', nice. Snapping back into reality, she caught Eraser looking at her with a puzzled expression on her face.

'What's wrong Eraser?' Probably something to do with her hair, it was getting a bit long and she had meant to cut it.

'Welll, I was just wondering, like, what is Gohan's problem? I mean, one day, he's this sweet new kid and the next he's well…a seasoned drunk. When did it all go wrong? Like, when do you think he kinda went off the rails?'

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><p><strong>animal videl <strong>I'm sorry, I'm a bastard I know. The next chapter wil fulfill your wishes so please stick with my story. I don't want to rush it though, I intend for this story to be long.


	6. Bright Lit Blue Skies

**MRMenaMRM: **Cheers for the review, I get what you're hinting at, it's a possbility...a real possibility.

**animal videl: **I hope this chapter satisfies your wishes a little, I know it's not as much as you'd probably like, but I'll be updating again pretty soon so stick with it.

Well, firstly, I'm sorry about how long it has taken me to update, it's been mad I tell you, mad. Holidays and now I'm back at school, in my final year, so I had to concentrate on starting well, like it'll help. But yeah, cheers for being patient, I hope this is 'worth the wait', there will be another chapter in the coming days. **The song for this chapter is Bright Lit Blue Skies by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti**, great song, top band, give it a listen.**  
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><p><strong>Bright Lit Blue Skies<strong>

============================================A=FEW=WEEKS=EARLIER================================================

Gohan stared at the mirror. Did he look…cool? Gohan wasn't sure what 'cool' was to other 'youths', living in almost utter isolation smack bang in the middle of a mountain range had meant that he was a little ignorant of current fashion; only a little. Information he had gathered from the internet informed him that waistcoats were in, were they? He wasn't even sure when the blog he had read was dated. Didn't change much, here he was, in a waistcoat. The other addition, a pair of baggy…red?...trousers seemed a little violent on the eyes. But apparently being 'out-there' and an 'individual' was all the rage, he had even come across guides on what to wear if you wanted to be an 'individual', ironic, yes, but Gohan was in no position to argue. He only hoped he didn't look like too much of a tit. While Gohan was by no means insecure, no one likes to be unsure of fashions. Those who wished to avoid fashions and those who wished to be part of fashions, needed to know, what the fashion was. Gohan had been confused by the entire thing, apparently it was fashionable to not be fashionable, but then some people were so unfashionable that they now were actually fashionable. The only thought that sprung to Gohan's mind at the time had been, 'Who gives a damn?', but then, it was his first day of school and he wanted to look nice, well, more his mother wanted him to look nice. Of course, these were all inherited from his father, who had seemed more keen on being naked than anything else. Gohan's thoughts were interrupted by a screech resonating from the kitchen.

"Gohan! It's already 6:45, unless you get your breakfast now, you're going to be late for school and I neither want you LATE for your first day nor do I want you going out with an empty stomach." The unmistakable yowl of his dearest mother always made Gohan cringe a little.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming!" He despised it when she explained her reasons before he could even answer, assuming that he was going to question her. Gohan had always thought, judging by what he had seen on television and on the internet, that his mother was rather lucky with her two sons. Both very polite, very bright and very, VERY obedient. Oh and let's not forget, arguably two of the most powerful beings in the universe. But this was his mother, mothers were mothers, they nagged, complained and whinged non-stop which of course grated, he'd miss it after a while though. Gohan snapped back into reality and begun to make his final preparations for school, checked his bag was correctly packed, checked himself in the mirror and turned off the light in his room. Power could be sparse in the mountain regions from time to time, it never hurt to try and save it. Picking his brown, canvas shoulder bag up from his bed he walked out his bedroom door, closing it behind him, proceeded down the short corridor and came into the kitchen. The smell of pancakes wafted towards his nose, his personal favourite breakfast meal, of course his mother had made Saiyan portions. Gohan was touched, she must have been up since 4 in the morning making these for him and Goten. Goten was already sat at the table, making his way through his own personal mountain, drenched in maple syrup. Gohan took the seat closest to his little brother and placed his bag down next to him. In a flash, he had a teetering pile of pancake in front of him, the scent was stronger than before and Gohan could barely contain himself, he launched into it, devouring them rapidly. He turned to his brother when finished who was staring up at him with eyes full of admiration.

"No one can eat as quick as you Gohan, you're sooo fast…I wish I could eat like you" It was an interesting skill to be looked up to for, but Gohan wasn't gonna question the tyke about whether it was a prudent reason for idolisation.

"I'm sure you will one day squirt, when you're a little older" What else could he say?

"Aww really? You mean it?" Gohan was slightly worried. Gohan loved his food, and it was only natural for a Saiyan to think about food for most of the day, Saiyan men thought about food as frequently as human men thought about sex. But Goten, was slightly unsettling in his obsession with food. Gohan only hoped he'd grow out of it. He wasn't sure if it was possible for a Saiyan to get fat, but he didn't want to imagine what it would take for it to happen.

"Yeah, of course little man" Gohan wanted to move the conversation to something a little more important "Now Goten, you do realise that I won't be here for most of today, right?"

"Yeah! Mum told me all about it, she said you were going to some school in Satan City, can I come?" Oh jeez, this was not what Gohan wanted to hear, he hated disappointing his little brother.

"I'm sorry bro, it's just for me, you'll be able to go when you're a little older" It broke his heart to see the sadness wash over that sheen of joy on the face of the young boy, but what else could he do? Take him? That would've looked peculiar.

"Oh…okay…I wish I was as old as you Gohan, I'd be able to eat loads and go with you everywhere…humph"

"You'll be saying the exact opposite when you're my age squirt" With that Gohan got up from his seat and picked up his bag. He ruffled his younger brother's hair and gave his mother a quick hug. She seemed to be quieter than usual, probably worried sick about him being treated poorly by the other kids, she didn't need to worry, Gohan could handle himself. Readjusting his clothes Gohan walked across the kitchen towards the front door, as he picked his keys up from the hall table, his mother spoke.

"Gohan…I just want you to know…that…I'm very proud of you and I'm sure your father is also" Gohan shot his mother an appreciative smile. After giving both his family members one last goodbye, a little OTT considering he'd be back in the afternoon, he exited the front door and called for Nimbus. The small cream coloured cloud came shooting out of the sky, stopping next to Gohan, giving him room to jump on. Having made himself comfortable on the cloud, Nimbus ascended into the sky and headed for Satan City.

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><p>Gohan checked his watch, 8:15, he was still 25 minutes away from school at the speed Nimbus was flying. He looked down at the suburbs he was passing over, searching for a secluded spot to jump for; a small park came into sight which seemed to be completely empty. Readying himself, Gohan made the cloud slow down and judged his trajectory, leaping from into the air; he plummeted toward the playground of the park, gradually coming to a halt as he slowed himself down with his ki. He landed next to the swing set with a small clap. Checking to see the park was empty, he set off at Olympian pace, his bag trailing behind him. The detached houses he shot past began to become high rise as he got near the centre of the city where the school was situated. He barely noticed the astonished stares he was being given by those he passed. As he came to a junction surrounded by tall glass towers, a loud bang rang out, he came to an immediate stop. One of the towers appeared to have a bank at the base which happened to be the scene of an on-going armed robbery.<p>

Gohan had to stop it, but he couldn't help but make a scene, that would raise his public figure if he were to do it as Gohan. Maybe they wouldn't recognise him later in the day if he powered up to Super Saiyan. Steeling himself, Gohan gritted his teeth, clenched his fists and concentrated as hard as he could, all in one lightning fast movement. The power rippled through every fibre of his body, sharp stabbing pains rattling up his spine as the synapses of his nervous system were overworked. The pain having subsided, he shot over to the scene of the crime as quickly as he could, the police had only just begun to turn up and confronted the man clad in a balaclava waving an Uzi in the air, firing it indiscriminately just outside the entrance to the bank. At the last moment Gohan realised he would have to mask his voice, he didn't want to fight this man, and he was willing to reason with him. Putting on the best Morgan Freeman voice he could Gohan spoke to the man.

"Sir…I don't want to fight you…you can stop this all now… maybe reduce your sentence a little…we can settle this real peaceful like" The man looked puzzled, and rightly so, here was a platinum blonde teen, wearing one of the most ridiculous outfits in the world, not to mention the fact that he seemed to be glowing, doing a Morgan Freeman impression. He'd seen many things in his time as a criminal, but this took the biscuit.

"Wha-What? Why? Who?" The man seemed more confused than scared. At least he had stopped firing his gun.

"I'm requesting you to stop your actions…please sir…just stop now…I don't want to fight you"

"Wha? Fight me? YOU! If you weren't aware kid, I have a gun and unless you want a round between the eyes, I'd skedaddle on home."

"You leave me with no choice" Gohan moved in. With a flick of the wrist he disarmed the man and sent him sprawling to the floor, he quickly seized his opportunity to detain the man and cuffed him in the side the head, hard enough to knock him out. Peering into the bank Gohan could see two more men, both holding sports bags which could only be containing money from the opened vault behind them. Gohan shot toward them, he launched into a roundhouse kick which clocked the man closest to him, lights out. The other stared on in horror as Gohan begun to advance on him. Raising his weapon he fired a shot straight at the approaching figure. The bullet didn't even reach him. Gohan reached out a hand in front of his face and caught the bullet. He couldn't believe his eyes, just his luck, the one day he decides to get involved in a heist and the superhero turns up outta nowhere. Taking the easy road, he dropped the bag to the floor and got on his knees. Gohan smirked, finally one of them had got the idea. Two police officers came rushing up behind Gohan asking for an explanation, but before they could get a word out, Gohan had sidestepped them, brushed passed a small figure with bright blue eyes and launched into the sky. At the scene he had just left, an azure-eyed girl with black hair stood with her arms crossed looking extremely pissed off, her baggy vest flapping in the breeze.

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><p>Gohan peered down at the ground floating past him. From the pictures he had seen of the school, it was recognisable for the fact that it had a large star on the front of the main building. Something to do with the old name of the city, Gohan wasn't too bothered about its origins, more about actually finding the thing. The high rise blocks gradually became smaller and there were far fewer than before, it appeared that he had flown straight over a large segment of the commercial sector of Satan City, needless to say, there had been large posters of Hercule all over the city. A large building came into sight, it was semi-circular in shape until its middle rose to form a point at the top of which, a star had been engraved. It was painted a cheap cream, the only colour a local government could settle for. This had to be the school, Gohan was already running a tiny bit late, the incident back at the bank had taken up more time than he had imagined. He dropped onto the roof of the school, it seemed the best spot to go unnoticed, plus there was a door that clearly led back into the top floor of the building. He brushed his shoulders off and ran a hand through his hair, making sure everything was in its right place. Readjustment finished, he headed for the door and down the stairwell it led onto. Gohan had no idea what the layout of the school was like, but luckily he had been sent a timetable in the post, on the back of which was a map of the school. He pulled his bag from around his head and fumbled through the contents, searching for the elusive piece of paper.<p>

"Balls" he quietly mumbled to himself.

He had found it, but in the flight from home, it had been pressed into an awkward position by the books on either side of it, meaning now that it had been partially torn and had creases all over. It wasn't pretty, but it would have to do. He scanned the back of the page, having found Tuesday on the table, he discovered that he was currently missing English, in room…A4…which was…turning over the piece of paper, he examined the map, and luckily it was actually the classroom closest to him. He carried on down the short corridor the stairwell had led onto and turned a corner, spotting a sign jutting out of the top of the aqua blue painted wall indicating that this was the location of room A4. He stopped just before the door, this was a big moment for him, he was about to enter his first classroom, the first time he would ever be in a room of education with other people of his age. Not only would there be people, but girls, Gohan's experience with the opposite sex didn't go much farther than his mother, 18 and Bulma. While he had his share of encounters along the way, Lime…and…well, just Lime, Gohan had never paid much attention to women, they only started to play on his mind a couple of months ago, apparently it was puberty. Puberty of course had some effect on the way he felt and thought, but that sounded a bit of a kop out, it was boredom more than anything. Gohan inhaled quickly through his nose and exhaled a long breath out his mouth. He raised his hand to the door and softly struck it twice, placing his free hand on the chrome door-knob in the process.

"Ahh a knock children, who could it be? Come in, mystery, come in!" Came a voice in the educated tone that only a 'classic' eccentric English teacher could produce. Taking his cue Gohan twisted the knob and pushed the door open. 25 pair of eyes, teacher not included. The room was largish, designed to replicate the acoustics of an amphitheatre, the desks were perched upon separate rows on different levels. Only half of the seats were actually occupied. The far side of the room was smattered with long rectangular windows, allowing the morning sun to permeate into the room. At the front was a large whiteboard, onto which was projected a section of Chaucer's 'The Pardoner's Tale'.

"Ahh, you must be our new student, dear boy, it appears you are late, not a good start, but I'll let it go this time" Gohan's gaze settled on the man giving the lesson. He was short, grey haired and had a pair of thick rimmed glasses on. He was clothed in a navy blue blazer under which he wore a cobalt jumper over a plain white shirt and a pair of pale brown trousers. Most startlingly was the footwear he had, which appeared to be a pair of white golf shoes. Snapping back into reality, Gohan realised the man was waiting for an answer.

"Uh, yeah…I guess" Not much of an answer, but it would have to do. The teacher seemed to have moved over to his paper scattered desk, checking some type of register.

"Ahh, Son Gohan, well young Gohan, welcome to Orange Star High School, my name is Mr Walden, I'll be the man who guides you through the wonders of English Literature. We're currently studying the joys of Chaucer, why don't you introduce yourself to the class?" He peered through his glasses at the young lad expectantly. Gohan scratched the back of his head embarrassed, instinctively grinning. The sound of female giggling could be heard echoing through the room.

"Well, yeah…erm…like he said, I'm Gohan and I'm pleased to have the opportunity to meet you all". He stared back at Mr Walden, begging him with his eyes to let him find a seat.

"Now that's out the way why don't you find a seat and we will carry on examining dear Chaucer, take this book". Taking the book in his hand, Gohan searched the room for an empty seat. The relative quiet of the classroom was pierced by a shriek from the back. A girl with bleach blonde hair was waving her hand at him, calling his name. Happy to find such an enthusiastic greeting awaiting him, Gohan ascended up the stairs and took his seat next to the girl. Placing his bag under the desk in front of him, he rummaged through it, pulling out a pad of paper and a black ballpoint pen. The girl leaned over to him and begun to whisper to him.

"Hey, I'm Eraser and this girl next to me is none other than THE Videl Satan" She indicated to the black haired girl sat next to her, staring off into the middle distance. Gohan vaguely recognised her from somewhere, it was her eyes, he was sure he had seen them somewhere before.

"Uh, hey, I'm Gohan, thanks for letting me sit next to you…it's very kind" He shot her a cheeky grin which was met with a fit of embarrassed giggles. The morose girl sat on the other side of Eraser, turned her gaze on Gohan, a hint of curiosity rippled across her face. An air of awkwardness began to develop, the stare between the two had started to carry on a little too long for Gohan's liking, taking the initiative, he turned his attention to the front of the classroom, and buried himself in his work.

The lesson had been pretty easy, they had been going through a 50 line passage translating it into modern English and discussing the relevancy of many of Chaucer's themes to modern literature. Throughout the lesson, Videl had been staring intently at Gohan deep in thought, almost as if she was trying, sub-consciously, to get his attention. Gohan did his best to keep himself focused on note taking, hoping desperately that she would let up, what was her problem? Gohan's thoughts were interrupted by the bell. He peered up at the clock, 10:10, it was going to be a very long day.

The rest of the lessons had been relatively straightforward, listen to the teacher, take notes, act interested. The entire point of the notes was not to further embed what the teacher said in your mind, rather, to ensure when exams reared their ugly heads and you realised you had done little listening, you weren't totally screwed. He was now into the home stretch of the period before lunch, History. They had been learning about Mussolini and the fall of Liberalism in Italy, it wasn't particularly relevant to him as a person, but the school had to teach something to be tested in the examinations. Videl had carried on staring at him and yet said nothing throughout all the periods, just stared. Eraser on the other hand, had been most talkative, asking Gohan about where he lived and subsequently expressing shock when he revealed it to her, expressing further shock when he explained to her that this was his first day of school, literally. For the most part though, he had lost himself in the words of the teacher and let the hours pass by. The bell rung once again, dominating the ears of all those nearby. Lunch, lunch, lunch. Glorious.

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><p>Yeah, sorry if any of you were dissapointed, should've updated, but for those of you who read to the end of this chapter, thank you. You shall be rewarded with the next chapter.<p>

Oh...animal videl...don't hurt me.


	7. Wolf Pack

**MrMenaMRM: **I'm very touched that you enjoy my story so much, it honestly makes writing the chapters so much easier when you have a enthusiastic audience. Also I hope this chapter makes up for any lack of G/V during the story so far.

**animal videl: **I hope you enjoy this chapter.

This is the longest chapter I have done yet. The song for this chapter is **Wolf Pack **by The Vaccines. Good song off a great album, strongly recommend it. **  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Wolf Pack<strong>

Gohan rose from his seat, clearing his things from the desk. Pen, pad, book. All stuffed into his bag. His classmates began to shuffle out, talking and joking amongst one another. Except one girl, she was still staring at him and NOW she was standing at the door waiting for him to get his stuff together. Well, at least it looked like she was; he couldn't see anyone else in the room that she had taken such an interest in during the lesson. It's not that he didn't want to be looked at, a furtive glance every so often would have felt okay, but the staring just made him uncomfortable. Pity, they were such incredible eyes she had. Zipping the bag shut, Gohan lifted it over his head and began to descend the stairs; intentionally avoiding her gaze. But he could see her, in his peripheral, still staring, arms crossed. Why him? Why did the possible serial killer have to pick him? Was it is hair? No, it was the waistcoat; he knew it, the fucking waistcoat. He was drawing ever closer to her, he could smell her lack of perfume, nice touch. It had taken him a while to adjust to the overpowering scent of Eraser's perfume; perfume was nice, but in moderation. Gohan got to the doorway and stopped. What was it gonna be?

"After you" he offered indicating toward the open door she stood next to. No answer. Staring, those big blue orbs, just staring. Indicating once again, Gohan mentally pleaded with her to piss off. Still nothing. Growing tired of the situation she had created, Gohan took the plunge and stepped through the doorway. Still nothing. He decided that just walking away, acting as if nothing was off was the best course of action. It took two steps for her to speak.

"I recognise you from somewhere kid." That was it? That was what all that staring was leading up to? Surely not, say it ain't so! "You haven't heard of a 'Gold Fighter' have you?" Who the hell was the Gold Fighter? And more importantly, why the hell should Gohan of all people know?

"Uhh…nope…sorry I don't know what you're talking about" Gohan made to leave; this was his chance, get way from this psycho.

"Oh really? It just so happens that this guy showed up to a bank robbery today, out of the blue with spikey blonde hair. He was just you're average guy you know, could fly, catch bullets; nothing special" It finally clicked. That's where he recognised those eyes, the bank heist! How could he forget?

"Sounds pretty amazing" Gohan feigned indifference. He really wanted to get away from this girl, but she was as obstinate as they come.

"Oh yeah, it really was, but you know what the most amazing thing about it was?" Here it was. She had figured it out. How could he be so stupid? Of course turning into a Super Saiyan wasn't enough of a cover! "This guy who could catch bullets was wearing exactly the same outfit as you." Gohan had to think fast, she was too perceptive for her own good.

"Well, clearly, that guy has some GREAT taste!" Ah shit, now she probably thought he was an arsehole to boot.

"Anyone who wears a waistcoat does NOT have great taste, I can assure you of that" He knew it, the blog had lied, fuck the internet. He couldn't lose face however. He could not let someone push him around; he had to ensure that people knew he did not shirk a fight.

"Oh didn't you know? Waistcoats are definitely in, snooker is all the rage at the moment" He really wanted to defuse the tension that was building. What he did not want on his first day was an enemy, especially one as…attractive as this.

"Uh huh, well I want you to know something Mister" She stepped toward him and started jabbing him with the index finger of her right hand "I don't like you, I don't like your attitude and I'm gonna be watching you, very closely. Got it?" With that she stormed off down the hallway, head held high.

"Yes, ma'am"

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><p>Gohan stared at the open set of doors in front of him. Beyond these doors was the lunch-hall. Gohan sucked in sharply, filling his lungs with air. This shouldn't have been this difficult. It was the lunch-hall; he'd be going in here pretty much every day for the rest of the year. But he couldn't fight the fact that he was nervous. Gohan, who had torn Cell a new one a few years back, was worried about walking into his first school lunch-hall. He could have his lunch in the cubicle…no, no, no. That was far too much of a cliché. He was GOING in there. Yes…No…Yes?...Yes. He took one step forward and stopped. Sucking in sharply once more, he took a second step forward, once again stopping. He was testing the waters, his body adjusting to the added nerves as he got closer. Much like walking into cold water at a beach, he would eventually have to take 'the plunge', that being in this instance, walking through the doors. It couldn't be that bad, could it? I mean, what's the worst that could happen? Gohan could handle anything. Looking down at his feet, Gohan breathed in once more and went for it. His heart began to beat rapidly as he passed through; his sweat glands going into overdrive. Luckily his hair would remain upright no matter what, thus meaning it wouldn't be quite as noticeable. He halted and gauged the set up; there were separate tables, each with six chairs, three on each side. However, the problem being, that there were no free tables. Gohan would have to sit next to someone. While he had normally had little problem meeting new people, Gohan was completely out of his element. These people were different, they thought differently, they acted differently and they would definitely respond differently to someone as happy as him. Once again, his thoughts were interrupted by a shriek. Searching for the source, he once again found himself staring at the blonde girl from his earlier class, Eraser. She was standing up, indicating that there was a free seat at her table next to her. He may as well. Striding over to the table, he pulled out the free chair and plonked himself down upon it while placing his bag on the table in front of him. A chilling feeling shuddered through his arms. He was being watched. Slowly but surely, he raised his head and peered over his bag. It was her. Attempting to keep his cool, he turned to Eraser.<p>

"Hey, erm, thanks for letting me sit her, you're too kind" Instincts kicked in once more. He smiled at her appreciatively.

"That's okay, cutie" Eraser batted her eyelids at him as she subtly slipped her hand onto his thigh. Gohan waited for her to remove it as he stared at her in disbelief. She wasn't budging. "So Gohan" She began rubbing her hand up and down slowly "Tell me, do you have a…girlfriend?" Gohan couldn't believe it, he had known this girl for what? 2 and half hours and here she was, ALREADY, trying to seduce him.

"N-No, I d-don't at thIS cuRRent moMEnt" He quickly shifted his leg away from her hand and began to retrieve his lunch capsules from the bottom of his bag. A new male voice could be hard, the edges of it grating with the slurred tones of a jock.

"You're kidding me Eraser" Gohan didn't even have to look, the guy was a jackass. It was all in the voice. "You think this twerp would have a girlfriend, per-lease." He knew it.

"Oh stop it Sharpie, I'm just teasing him, he's new, cut him some slack" Gohan pulled the case containing the blessed capsules from the dark reaches of his bag. Popping it open he removed the capsule labelled 'Bacon Sandwich'. He pushed down firmly on the pumper at the top and dropped it on the table. What now lay in front of Gohan was the glorious creation that was a 'Bacon Sandwich'. His one moment of happiness, this would be it, better savour it.

She looked across at him. It had been bugging her ever since he had walked into the classroom. He looked too much like the 'Gold Fighter' for it to be a mere coincidence, it had to be him. However, she didn't really want it to be him. As much as she was totally for anyone looking to help the community, being the city vigilante was HER thing. It may have sounded selfish, but she really hoped it was a one-off. Videl enjoyed the feeling of pride that came with stopping a crime, that sense of satisfaction. But now she had competition. Well, it seemed that way. Classing it as competition was similar to saying that anyone other than Usain Bolt would win the Olympic Gold. She couldn't match him. While she was talented, she couldn't fly, couldn't catch bullets and couldn't move speeds close to that of light. It was a no-brainer, if this guy was here to stay, she was effectively redundant. What annoyed her most was just his general…demeanour. There was something so…assured about it, as if he knew that he was utterly in control, either that or she was just gushing over her new crush. Videl hated to admit it, but he wasn't bad looking. It made her dislike him. No one made Videl feel unsure of herself, she wasn't supposed to care what others thought of her. But she couldn't stop the voice in the back of her mind questioning whether he thought she was pretty. Nothing would ever happen, she'd get over him, like all the others. She looked over at Sharpener, who was smirking to himself as he made taunting comments at the newbie. She'd had a crush on him once, when she first met him, it had never amounted to anything due to his disgusting arrogance, but she had to admit that she found him quite funny sometimes. Plus he was clingy, and thought he was good enough for her, no one did that. She was the daughter of Hercule, she wasn't just anybody. The voices stopped. Sharpener had stopped smirking and was now gawping in horror at the sight before him. She turned her head to look at Gohan, even she was slightly shocked. He had finished his bacons sandwich and was now making his way through a whole roast chicken, it was strangely impressive. Eraser mustered up enough courage to speak.

"G-Gohan, you're not seriously going to eat all that are you?" Gohan looked up at her and finished his mouthful.

"Uh-huh, why wouldn't I?" He replied with a look of utter blandness. Videl was about to speak when her watch began to bleep loudly. She pushed two buttons on either side of the small screen that dominated the face. The digital timer vanished as the Police Chief's face appeared.

"What's the sitch Chief?"

"A shootout at Valley Parade Nursery Videl, we have a gang of four men, possibly armed, they claim to have hostages"

"Okay, I'll be there ASAP" Pushing the two buttons once more, she rose from her seat and made for the door. What she didn't see was Gohan excuse himself to go to the toilet.

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><p>Videl landed at the scene and jumped from her heli-car. Four police cars formed a barrier which the officers could shelter behind as the chief held a megaphone aloft 'reasoning' with the criminals held up inside the nursery. What this really consisted was the jovial swapping of insults. According to the 'head' villain, the Chief's mother was a whore. True or not, this apparently couldn't hide the fact that this reprobate was a disgrace to society and had shit for brains. Lovely. Ducking behind the cover of the police cars, Videl scooted closer toward the Chief.<p>

"Give me the details" Not that she needed them. She just liked to let the Chief feel that he was involved. He was a good ally to have, had a lot of clout in city hall.

"It's like I said Videl, 4 men, all held up in that building, we believe them to be armed and they say they have hostages…but we are yet to get a good enough view to see" Yeah, likely story, they were just too chicken-shit to try.

"Okay I get the picture." She raised her head above the roof of the police car she hid behind. The Chief had been right; there was little or no view inside the nursery. All that could be seen was the silhouette of a figure holding a megaphone framed against the open front window of the one-storey building. The Chief and the man…or woman…traded insults once more; she wasn't seven sure why he had this job, he must have been nearing retirement. At one time he was probably a great cop with equally great plans for the city, but his 20-something years in charge had clearly crushed those dreams. He was exactly who she did not want to become. As the Chief shot back another biting insult, Videl saw her chance; vaulting over the bonnet of the car she bounded toward the front door, taking cover in the space between the window and door. She listened. Whimpers and the muffled screams of children could be heard. They weren't bluffing, they had hostages…children. This was a delicate situation to say the least. She couldn't go in and kick-off, this was going to require a certain amount of diplomacy. She slowly pushed the door open and slipped inside; luckily there was a small lobby with another door leading into the main play-area. What was she to do? This was delicate; she could either calmly walk in and request a parley of sorts or knock on the door and ask if they are willing to talk face to face about what this group wanted. Weighing up the chances of her getting killed, she went for the latter; at least it gave her another option. She knocked on the door loudly, the muffling that she could hear in-between her thoughts stopped suddenly. A few whispers could be caught being shot between two voices. A bit of hushing, footsteps next.

"Come in" The voice was deep, too deep to be a simple goon; obviously this was the leader. Obeying the voice's demand, Videl pushed the door open and peered in. She had expected the usual hostage situation, couple of people tied up hidden away in the corner; an unfortunate casualty. This was different. The children, there were 9 of them including their teacher, had been crowded into the middle of the room and were surrounded by the 4 balaclava clad figures, all of whom were dressed in white adidas tracksuits with matching running shoes. They appeared to be armed with an array of weapons, pistols, shotguns, sub-machine guns, you name it. The question was however, who was the ring-leader? The megaphone that had been held by the figure at the window had been discarded and lay unused on the floor.

"Show yourself" The voice was different this time, not quite as deep, but still keenly intelligent. Videl wasn't going to let them run this, she would make them wait. A shot jolted the air around her sending her heart racing. Videl turned round the corner mentally begging there wasn't bullet lodged in a small child's brain. There wasn't. But the guns the four held were now pointed at their captives. The situation had been bad before, but now, now it was at breaking point. She was worried, she couldn't help it; these were children, very young children.

"What the hell do you want?" She was on the point of crying, never before had she been in a situation like this.

The figure to the furthest left spoke first "Ahh, we finally have your full attention." Once again it was a different voice. This once had a more colloquial twang to it, yet still an undertone of knowledge was present.

"We were hoping you'd show. What better person to be here for the beginning of the revolution than the daughter of the 'champ'?" The figure closest to him was speaking; it was the deep voice from beforehand.

"But what you want to know is why we have these poor little darlings trussed up and held at gunpoint, am I right?" This was the silky voice of a woman. The figure furthest to the right was speaking, she was noticeably smaller than the other three, but that shotgun seemed to add a good two feet to her.

"We don't want money, no, no, no, we've got exactly what we want, your attention. Just so you know, we're filming this, afterwards we'll spread it, these children will be martyrs. Unlike our followers, you're going to get a live show." The middle-right figure finished his speech, took the girl he had his pistol pointed at and threw her to the floor in front of Videl. He now held the gun to the back of her head…he was going to execute her. Videl couldn't believe her eyes, she had not anticipated this. A shoot-out was one thing, but executions, Videl couldn't handle this, the tears were flowing and she slumped to her knees. This wasn't happening. Silence. A flash. A loud crash and screams of confusion could be heard. Smoke was billowing through the nursery and there was little or no visibility. Everything had slowed down for Videl as her ears began to ring. She stared at her hands and could faintly hear her name being called. Slowly, she looked in the direction of the sound. In front of her stood a tall figure, clad in…red? Trousers, a white shirt and a waistcoat. It was that kid Gohan's outfit, but this man didn't have black hair, no, it was a platinum blonde. He leaned down and lifted her, darting through the open door of the nursery. She now found herself kneeling on the road outside, having little idea of how she came to be here. Within minutes the children and their children were lined up around her, all of whom had been saved by the blonde superhero it seemed. Forcing herself to regain her sense, she got to her feet and surveyed the scene, the nursery was billowing with smoke and all 9 hostages were safe, however the blondie and criminals were nowhere to be seen. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye, she spied a strange light emanating from an alleyway a couple of buildings down the street from the nursery. Being the curious sort, Videl quietly ran over and peeped round the corner. It was the Gold Fighter from before alright, and that was most definitely Gohan's outfit. He appeared to be crouched over something, checking it. She quietly crept up behind the 'hero'. It was definitely Gohan, the 'something' he was checking was in fact his schoolbag. Oh, he was going to hear it now.

"Gohan" He stopped, this couldn't be, no, this could not be happening. He recognised that voice; it was that fucking mentalist who had been staring at him all day…Videl. He had to keep cool, how had she recognised him? He was in his Super Saiyan transformation. He was blonde for Pete's sake. Steeling himself, Gohan powered down, stood up straight and turned to reply to her.

"Okay, Videl, you've got me, I'm not sure…" He was stopped mid-sentence, looking down at his midriff, latched onto him was a shock of black hair. Videl…was hugging him? Not only that, she appeared to be crying. Gohan froze. This day could not have got any stranger, first she was staring at him menacingly now she was crying into his chest, she had to make her bloody mind up. Gohan placed his hand on her back and rubbed it slowly. As fast as she had attached herself to him she let go. She looked up at him, still teary eyed. God those eyes were beautiful. Like a pair of flowing seas, they drew him in. In between sniffles she spoke.

"I want to say…thank you…I'm not…sure…what I would've done without your help." Well, this was unexpected, here he was thinking that she was absolutely crackers, guess not.

"Err, that's okay Videl, don't mention it." Don't mention it? DON'T MENTION IT? Videl couldn't believe what she was hearing. He had just defused a potentially catastrophic situation in what seemed like mere seconds and here he was saying 'Don't mention it'. Just for that she was going to make him squirm; she knew his secret now and she was going to eek all she could out of him. It crossed her mind that when she had tried to confront him before he had FLOWN off, well, he must have learnt to do that.

"It occurs to me Gohan, that I know your secret now" His facial expression which had been one of utter surprise changed to deadly serious. "But you see Gohan, my silence is gonna cost you" Gohan stared her. Shit, he could be intimidating.

"Go on." There wasn't a hint of emotion in his voice.

"Well you know that whole flying thing…" He cut her off.

"No, I'm not teaching you to fly, I don't have the time." He made to walk away from her but she stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Seriously Gohan? It can't be that difficult. Plus if you don't I'll tell EVERYONE your secret." Gohan stared at her once more; she could feel herself shrinking underneath those onyx eyes. The stare he gave her seemed to last an eternity, it felt as if he was staring through her. Suddenly, he spoke.

"I have a better idea. I saw you in class, during those short periods in which you weren't staring at me" Videl blushed, she hadn't realised how much time she had spent staring at him. She had consciously stared at him to try and stimulate a feeling of discomfort, however she was unaware of the fact that she had done it for 85% of the lesson. "You weren't doing any of your work, plus I realised that all this time you spend being a 'vigilante' must be bad for your work. How about I assist you in completing all your work?" Videl hated to admit it, but there was some truth in what he said. Work would pile up on her and she would end up doing a hashed job of it. Well, it wasn't flying, but at least she would gain something from it. He held out his hand to her, a hint of a smile creeping over his face. She looked at it, contemplating whether or not she actually WANTED his help. Ah, sod it. She reached out and grasped it firmly; he subsequently tightening his now vice-like grip. She squealed and took back her hand as Gohan smirked at her.

"See you back at school." Giving her a quick two-fingered salute, Gohan turned his back to her and shot into the sky. Videl looked at the spot where he had just stood and sighed. Just her luck. She didn't deal well with crushes.


	8. Lust For Life

Right, here we are, new month, new chapter. It won't be this slow for the next chapter, it's half term the week after next so should get a chapter out by then. Cheers for being so patient. Doot.

The song for this chapter is by the fantastic band **Girls** off their debut album 'Album', it is called, unsurprisingly '**Lust For Life'**.

Also, I'm British, English to be precise, so I'm going to be using Sterling as the currency purely for convenience sake.

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><p><strong>Lust For Life<strong>

At the time it seemed like a really great idea. Gohan knew that helping her with work would be far easier than teaching her to fly, and he would also benefit from the extra time spent studying. This would be especially important now considering the new job as protector of the city that he had taken up. It wasn't that Gohan particularly wanted to have the expectations of a city weighing almost solely on his shoulders; he just couldn't take seeing innocent people being harmed. That group he had taken out were an eye-opener for him. He knew that there were beings out in the universe that killed indiscriminately, he had experienced it first hand, but they always seemed to have some sort of end objective that had some sort of twisted logic to it. That lot though…what he couldn't get out of his head was 'What would murdering a group of innocent toddlers in cold blood lead to?' However, he didn't have time to mull over these things; he had to get to a certain girl's house, and sharpish.

The previous day had progressed quite quickly after the incident at the nursery for Gohan. Videl was still staring at him, but not quite as intently, she was far more secretive about it now. It didn't bother Gohan, she seemed pretty mental to him yeah, but then again, everyone at that school appeared batshit to Gohan. It was a culture clash. Luckily, he'd managed to get back to school in time for the end of lunch, meaning his absence had gone unnoticed. As far as he could tell, other than Eraser and now Videl obviously, no one particularly cared about him. He wouldn't have had it any other way.

His second day of school had been a lot more incident free, thank God. He'd got into school, on time, made small talk with Eraser, for some reason she kept trying to stray on to the topic of relationships. But he could deal with that. Other than staring at him, Videl had done little else; it seemed as if she was a little scared to talk to him. The only thing of note that had happened during lunch had been, coincidentally, Videl giving him a note. Well…by give, what's really meant is that Videl ACTUALLY gave the note to Eraser, who gave it to Gohan. For a note, it hadn't really been that significant, just directions to her house. He was quite surprised at the fact that she wanted to do the homework sessions at her home, he'd have thought the library was more suitable. Going to her house wasn't a problem though; it wasn't like this was a date or anything, it was purely helping out a classmate with her work and that was it. An extremely attractive classmate with that tight behi - bad thoughts, she has feelings too.

Gohan exited the school gates and crossed the road as he headed in the direction of the bus stop, which was currently vacant, conveniently placed outside the school for students use. When mentioning that the note had 'directions' to her house, what was really said on it was, 'Catch the 367 and get off at Merriweather road it's the house with the picture of Hercule Satan on the front of the gates'. Gohan was quite excited about this, not the helping out at her house, the catching of a bus; he had never caught a bus before you see. The service for Satan City didn't extend out of the city; it stopped at the edge of the suburbs. The bus stop itself was a basic structure, a large roof held up by two walls made of glass at the back and right-hand side. A small LED screen indicated which bus was coming next and when it was due. Luckily for Gohan, the screen currently read that the 367 was the next due, in 2 minutes to be precise. It was strange how time seemed to work, a bus in 10 minutes would have felt like waiting for one in 30 minutes, however a bus in 2 minutes felt like waiting for one in 30 seconds, it wasn't in anyway proportionate. As anticipated, the 2 minutes disappeared and the red single-decker bus had now pulled up in front of Gohan, its open doors inviting him in. He stepped through them and looked at the man behind the perspex window.

"One adult ticket please". The driver looked back blankly as if Gohan had insulted his mother's cooking, his greasy long brown hair trailing down the side of his head as he peered over his sunglasses. There was a silence between the two as the stare-off that had started began to develop. A few seconds more and the driver had still said nothing; awkwardness was beginning to set in. Something HAD to be said.

"Erm…so…how much will that be, kind sir?" Gohan was unsure as to whether his tone or something related to what he said had upset the man. He knew the 'kind sir' was taking the piss a little bit, but he hoped it would emphasise the fact that he hadn't meant to offend him.

"That will be 2 pound 20, KIND SIR!" Well, clearly, someone wasn't a happy bunny. But at least Gohan had got some type of response, even though it had been surprisingly aggressive. Rummaging through his right pocket Gohan fiddled with his unseen change and spilled it out into the blue crevice-like tray/gap in the perspex window. The driver placed a small ticket, made out of the same thin paper as supermarket receipts, on the tray as he scooped up the coins. Giving Gohan one last disparaging look, he activated the closing mechanism for the doors and the bus pulled away. Gohan found himself a seat at the back of the bus and sat next to a hooded figure who had their mobile phone gripped in his right hand. Suddenly a tinny noise sprung forth from the small black block, an indistinguishable sound that seemed to be some sort of music. Gohan looked at the owner of this screeching machine who seemed to be taking little notice of those around him, or her, he wasn't sure due to the large hood hiding their profile. What he did know, however, was that it was going to be a long, tiresome journey.

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><p>Videl peered out of her bedroom window, the lush green lawn stretching out in front of her as the copious driveway her father had installed when building the house wound its way through the pure deep green, all the way up to those garish gates with her father's face plastered on them. It was already 5:30, and Gohan had agreed that he would turn up by 5:00. It wasn't like she was that bothered about the timing, just as long he actually showed up and helped her with her homework. A bus pulled up at the small stop just beyond the gates and a figure exited from the doors. Gohan. Turning away from the window, she waited for the buzzer on the gate to ring. Nothing. She waited, but still, nothing. Suddenly there was a sharp knock at the front door and Videl was finally forced to vacate her room. She turned the lock and pulled the door open to reveal a stoic-faced Gohan.<p>

"Gohan…why didn't you ring the bell?" In her entire life she had never encountered anyone who didn't ring the bell in front of the rather over-sized and intimdating gates.

"There was a bell? Who needs a bell when you can knock on a door." He had a point, a very vague point. Gohan stared at her, still little emotion showing in his well-defined face. "So, are we gonna get started?" He began to take his bag off his shoulder.

"Oh...yeah. Sure." Videl blurted out as Gohan disturbed her nervous daydream. "Erm…yeah…let's get going. Do you want to do it in…NOT IT, I mean my w-work in the kitchen or my bedroom?" Videl's cheeks turned a deep crimson as she began to blush heavily. Gohan's face finally showed a hint of reaction, through a contortion of his eyebrows, mouth, eyes and ears which she assumed could only confusion or he had done something unspeakable in his trousers.

"Does your kitchen have a desk?"

"No, but it has the counter."

"Does your bedroom have a desk?" Gohan seemed to take little notice of her suggestion of a counter. What was so wrong with a counter? Arsehole.

"Yeah…it does, soooooo upstairs?" She half-wanted him to say no. It felt strange inviting someone she barely knew, let alone a boy, into her bedroom. He indicated with his free hand to the stairs while holding his bag in the other.

"Lead the way." They ascended the stairs and entered Videl's bedroom through a surprisingly large white door. The room itself was also rather large, however it was made to seem even bigger by the lack of items within it. The walls were a bright white and the entire theme of the rooms seemed to be white; carpet, bed, drapes, desk and even her television were white. It was slightly unnerving for Gohan, felt as if he was stepping into a room designed for scientific purposes that had been sterilised on a daily basis, for all he knew, it could well have. As Gohan surveyed the room, he failed to notice an attractive young, and very impatient, girl looking up at him.

"Erm…Gohan…can we start, or are you just going to carry on admiring the drapes?"

He paused to look at her.

"You gots yerself some might fine drapes lady." Gohan replied in a mock hillbilly accent as he gave her a cheeky smile and a wink. Videl felt her knees weaken. "Right, so…erm…yeah let's do this, what work are you yet to do?"

"I've got that English work about the significance of the old man in the Pardoner's Tale still to do, think you can help me with that?" Why was she even asking? It wasn't like Gohan was going to turn to her and say 'No, fuck that, Pardoner's Tale? Please, don't waste my time'. He was here to help and that, surprisingly, was what he was going to do.

"Sure, I can do that". Gohan repressed the slight anger that had bubbled within him. Going through human puberty with Saiyan blood meant that he was inclined to…fly off the handle for the most obscure of things. He plastered on the old tried and tested Son grin as Videl offered him a seat. She moved toward the door as Gohan began to get his copy of the text out of his bag.

"Gohan, do you want a cup of coffee or tea or something?"

"Oh yeah, erm, could I have some tea please?"

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><p>"So right, what we can see, basically, is that the old man is effectively an enigma, there's no 100% certainty over what he's actually meant to be. Some argue that he is Death, however there is no definite idea we can point to that proves this to be entirely correct, that's what makes him such a good topic for an essay." Videl hadn't even begun to write her essay on the subject they had been given by their English tutor due to the fact that Gohan had spent the last hour explaining the entire topic to her.<p>

"Okay, I think I get it now Gohan, but I'm a little worn out at the moment, how about we take a break?" As informative as Gohan's lesson may have been, Videl needed a break to let it all sink into her brain. Not only this, but she wanted to get to know Gohan a little better, throughout the lesson he had radiated a feeling of discomfort and it hadn't helped in anyway. "You fancy a coke or something?" Please say yes. Gohan looked at the white clock on her wall, 6:30, he may as well, he had time.

"Yeah, sure, why not?". He followed her out the room and down the spiral staircase, he's eyes readjusting to the lack of white, the walls were painted a deep royal blue. They proceeded into the kitchen. It appeared to be fairly modern with all types of random cooking utensils that they obviously didn't use, for instance, the ice cream maker. Videl opened the fridge and pulled out two cans of coke, their red surfaces dripping with condensation. She set the pair of drinks down on the black, granite worktop surface and took a seat on the far side of the counter. Gohan took his seat and cracked the can open with one hand while he nervously scratched a mosquito bite on his leg that had been troubling him all day with the other. It was strange how the mosquitos round his house had managed to adapt to the rock hard Saiyan skin, but then again, it was strange that he could fly. Videl rested her head on her right hand and sighed loudly, hoping to get the black haired youth's attention. It appeared she was going to have to break the ice.

"So Gohan…how long have you been able to fly?" It was an obvious topic, but she really wanted to know.

"I don't really want to talk about this Videl…can we talk about…I dunno…shopping?" He had been told that's what all girls liked, shopping. Then again, it had been Sharpener who gave him that advice and while Gohan wasn't one to judge right away, he appeared to be one of the biggest tossers he had met in his entire life.

"Oh coooome on Gohan, you might as well, I won't tell anyone okay? Plus you'll be coming here on a regular occasion so we might as well get to know each other a little better." As much as he hated to admit it, she had a point. He gazed at her for moment, giving no emotion away, he was good at that and he knew it.

"Okay, fine, I'll tell you, have you ever heard of the man Son Goku?"

"Of course I have, he won the World Martial Arts Tournament a while back, apparently he could do all the stu…wait…Son Goku, like Son Gohan…don't tell me, he's your Father?" This would explain a lot.

"Yeah, you got it, he's my Dad. Weehehehell, he kinda taught me how to do all I can do I guess." He hoped that would be the end of it, that she wouldn't interrogate him further.

"But my Dad told me that it was all tricks and that real fighters don't do that…" She was stopped mid-sentence by the now melted can that sat in front of her, a small silver pool forming around it as it began to cool. Videl looked back up at the Saiyan in horror. He smirked back at her.

"Tricks eh? I can assure you Videl, what I do are not tricks, they have taken a long time to master, something your Father probably refuses to believe. But speaking of Fathers, where does yours happen to be?" It was his turn now. He wasn't going to let her hold all the cards in this relationship. Gohan made a mental note to clear up the mess he had made with the can when it had cooled as Videl's demeanour changed dramatically.

"Well, yeah, he's…he's out I guess, I don't really know what he gets up to most of the time, you can normally find him downtown. He likes to flaunt his cash, one-night stands...you know. But hey, ever since my mum…passed away…well, it's always been like that." Gohan looked down at the counter as he began to fidget uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry Videl…I…I didn't know, I'm, well, I'm sorry." He truly was. Guilt was pumping through his veins as he stared down at his hands. He could've sworn he heard a couple of stifled sniffles come from her direction. If he had felt guilty before, he felt as if he had murdered a litter of new-born kittens now.

"It's…it's okay Gohan, you weren't to know, I'm just gonna go for a sec." She got up from her seat to retrieve a box of tissues from her bedroom. Once she had got up the spiral staircase she broke into a run and having made sure the door was shut, threw herself onto the bed, letting the tears flow freely. Even though it had happened when she was very young, the memory of her mother was still very vivid in her mind and it hurt every day when she looked over at the picture she had of her on her bedside table. There was a slight creek as she heard the door being opened. Rubbing her eyes, she turned to look over at the source of the noise. Gohan was leaning on the door-frame with his arms crossed, scratching the back of his head intermittently.

"Uh, yeah, Videl…erm…I know I said I'm sorry back downstairs, but if it makes you feel any better, I know how you feel." This was news to Videl, Gohan struck her as one of the most happy-go-lucky people she had ever met. Then again, it's not like she knew him that well.

"What do you mean?" This was going to hurt Gohan more than he wanted it to, but seeing Videl descend into such a fit of despair had brought back emotions he thought he had long supressed.

"Well, my Dad…he's not with us anymore either…I just thought I'd let you know that I know where you're coming from and I'm here for you." He looked down at the floor as moved his feet anxiously. Videl looked at the figure before her, it was extraordinary how with those words, she felt her and Gohan grow tenfold closer. There was a short silence as Videl regained her composure and blew her nose a couple of times.

"Well, how about we get working again?" Videl inquired as she clapped her hands together, hoping to gain Gohan's full attention. The boy in question, awoke from his thoughts with a start and tried to regain his balance with the assistance of the door.

"Oh…yeah, that's a good idea, let's try and get that essay of yours done." He sat down next to her at the desk and they began.

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><p>"Well, okay Videl, I think you have a pretty damn good essay there." Gohan stated as he gathered his things up and shoved them into his bag. He was quite pleased with the work they had got done that evening. However, what he was more pleased about was the fact that he felt like he had made a real friend today, someone outside of the Z fighters. Videl was beside herself with joy, this had to be the best essay she had ever written and Gohan's guidance had been so well balanced that she actually felt it had been her who wrote it.<p>

They walked to her front door and stopped to say goodbye to one another. They both fidgeted as they waited for one another to do something. Gohan looked down at the young girl in front of him and could of sworn that those stunning blue eyes looked at his mouth for a split second. Did she want to kiss him? Did he want to kiss her? Find out on the next exciting episode of DRAGONBALL Z!...or not. This was happening way to quickly for Gohan, they had been staring at each for at least half a minute, looking away at moments as if they had heard something. Gohan decided to make a move. Mustering up all his courage he leaned, Videl, anticipating this, also began to gradually move onto the tips of her toes. What was he doing? He couldn't kiss Videl! He had school to worry about! A girlfriend would be too much work. As these questions ran through his head, Gohan's sub-conscious took over and he pulled out at the last moment. At the same time he, without thinking, put his hand on her head and ruffled her hair slowly. She looked up at him in amazement.

"Um yeah, guess I better be hittin' the dusty trail." With that Gohan removed his hand from her head, quickly opened the door and exited in a flash, his bag trailing behind him. Leaving Videl to ponder over what had just happened.

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><p>This was bad. This was oh so bad. Gohan could not believe he was doing this. Here he was, waiting behind the sports hall for Videl. He hadn't actually had the balls to ask her to come, he'd asked Eraser to do it for him. He wasn't sure if she had actually done it, she seemed strangely unsurprised at him asking her and even more strange, she didn't flirt with him. This couldn't be right, she had to be ill. But more to the point, Gohan was now waiting for Videl, the girl who he had shared that wonderful awkward moment with. Oh dear, footsteps, here we go, time to get ready. Videl rounded the corner and came face to face with that boy, the only boy really. No awkwardness this time, too much already. Gohan was going to start this off.<p>

"Videl, right, what happened yesterday…"

"We were both feeling quite emotional, I get it" Videl cut in. Thank Kami. She had saved him that trouble, what a girl.

"Yeah, yeah, exactly, let's try to forget this and just move on hey?" It really wasn't that easy, they were both lying to themselves about what had happened.

"Yeah…soooo…you still coming round tonight?" Ahh, this was the one. This was the one that Gohan had not been looking forward to. It was a big decision. Either he said no and let it slip that the moment they had did mean something or said yes and carried on with the façade.

"Erm, yeah, I don't see why not." Brilliant. Why he wasn't doing Drama Gohan would never understand.

"So, yeah, see you at 5?"

"5." He nodded at her as he said it. She gave him a quick smile and left without saying another word.


	9. Bluish

Okay, hey guys, for those who wonder, this is a flashback of sorts.

Anway, here's chapter 9, oh it's growing ever longer. The song for this chapter is **Bluish by Animal Collective**, I really recommend it, especially for this chapter, adds a lot to it.**  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Bluish<strong>

The next two weeks went by very smoothly for Gohan. The deal between him and Videl had carried on; he hadn't attended every night, only when he really could. Annoyingly, he found himself almost aching to spend more time with her; it was entirely new to him. He was trying his best to suppress his feeling for her and these 'rendezvous' were not helping at all. Their relationship had come on leaps and bounds since their first meeting, both of them feeling more attached to one another. They even now openly conversed in school, even sitting next to each other in lessons, rumours began to spread, that the 'newman' was dating the most hard-to-get girl in school. It was true that there was something bubbling, but nothing official. Over the days they had opened up a little more, Gohan had even let Videl in on the secret that he had been the little boy at the Cell Games. She was less surprised than he had hoped, apparently she had already worked it out, bullshit. His mother hadn't been happy with the setup at first, but when Gohan had mentioned that it would benefit his own schoolwork she had soon been won over. Goten, on the other hand, had been beside himself with sadness; he had kicked, screamed, wailed and even powered up to Super Saiyan at one point; it was a bit of an eye-opener. This week, though, this week was different; it was new for a start and with a new week came a new fresh set of rumours.

This had to be Sharpener's doing, Gohan knew it. He had noticed something was off when he first walked through the corridors to get to his locker; tardiness was a thing of the past for our young hero. It wasn't anything particularly obvious, just the way people had looked at him and the frequency of it. He wasn't totally unaware of the fact that many women found him 'attractive', he just didn't really care; it was normally those girls who looked at him as he passed. It wasn't just those girls today, oh no, it was everyone, sneaking a furtive look here and there. It had been so off-putting that Gohan had made a quick detour into the men's room to check that he wasn't still Super Saiyan. On the way over there had been a string of petty crimes, Videl had cleared most of them up, it was easier for her to get away with coming to school late, but he had helped out where he could. But no, he was in his normal state, looking as far as he could tell, more normal than ever. Videl had given him a couple of fashion tips, mainly that waistcoats were not fashionable, not yet at least. She had even taken him to the shopping mall to buy him a pair of jeans, something she couldn't believe he didn't have, and a series of t-shirts with the assorted bollocks phrases on them. However, here he was, feeling as self-conscious as he could remember. You could ask the question, dearest reader, but surely Gohan has nothing to feel insecure about, he's the crunkest chap in the universe isn't he? Well, reader, this is very true, but consider for a moment, Gohan is new to this whole high school business, how would you feel?

After exiting the lavatory, still being looked at, Gohan made his way as quickly as he could, while still looking unfazed; something that resembled the Monty Python freemason sketch, to his first lesson. Entering the classroom had been the worst part, he thought he had finally integrated into the fabric of the school, but no, the eyes were there too. He made a bee line for his desk, staring straight in front of him the entire way. Even Eraser was acting up, having finally given up on wooing Gohan she had stopped flirting with him, however, she didn't even register his presence only a seat across from her. The clock read 8:19. Still ten minutes before he could bury himself in work, agony. Around 5 minutes later, there was a ripple of whispers up the classroom which disturbed Gohan from his wonderful daydream, Videl had entered the room. She had got the same treatment it seemed. Having taken her seat next to Gohan they said nothing to one another, a strange pact of silence being signed between the two. What was the lesson? History. Time to tune out.

Gohan shoved his pad of paper into his bag and hid his ballpoint pen in his pocket. Most of the class had already cleared out, including Videl and Eraser. They had wandered off pretty quickly, side by side. Whatever it was causing all this strange activity, needed to be cleared up as soon as possible.

"Okay, don't freak out when I tell you, but yeah…I heard that you and Gohan…did it." Eraser couldn't believe that her Videl hadn't heard this; it had been the talk of the town for the past weekend. Videl breathed in and out slowly, hoping to erase the feelings of pure rage inside of her. Whoever had spread this rumour was going to suffer…not only at her hands. An evil thought sprung to mind.

"Eraser…you know you're my best friend right?" She was using it, that favour reserved for desperate times, the friend card.

"Yeah, of course I do Videl!" What kinda question was that?...Oh no, she wasn't, she wouldn't, the friend card. Eraser couldn't mask her horror, she was about to be thrown right into the middle of this controversy. Videl began to nod her head as she recognised her friend's reaction.

"That in mind Eraser, you wouldn't happen to know who spread this little story about me and Gohan, would you?" Ahh she had her by the proverbial balls. Eraser squirmed slightly as she looked for a way out.

"Uh…I dunno…Videl, I mean I did h-hear something about…Sharpener or something." That was all Videl needed. Thanking her friend, she headed straight for a certain someone's locker. Luckily he hadn't gone back to class yet and was still organising his books. Videl rubbed her hands together menacingly, thanking Kami for her good luck. Sidling up, she leaned her back on the adjacent locker and put on her cutest face possible.

Right, Lynch textbook – check, Waters textbook – check, he was all sorted for his lesson. Gohan was just about to close his locker when he sensed a presence appear beside him, Videl. He turned his head to look at her, to which she batted her eyelids. Gohan didn't need to have an extensive knowledge of girls to know that she wanted something.

"Goooooooooooohaaaaaaaaaan" Okay, she definitely wanted something. He'd never understood why people elongated the syllables of someone's name when they wanted something. He was guilty of it as well and still never understood what it achieved. "Do you mind if I tell you something?" Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shit, here we go. Gohan tensed up as his nerves begun to kick up a fuss. He shook his head, his vocal chords too horrified to work. "Weeeeeeeeeell, apparently, Sharpener has been telling everyone that we, you know, did it." A loud snap indicated that Gohan had pulled his locker door off its hinges, you know, as you do.

"Say that again." Gohan's worried demeanour was replaced by deep contempt, the type of contempt that only a Saiyan could muster. The locker door was still gripped in his right hand, his fingers making imprints in the metal.

"Sharpeneeeeeeer has been spreading rumours about us doing, well, naughty things." She batted her eyelids once more and put her hands behind her back, shuffling her feet in mock nervousness. Gohan pursed his lips and looked down at his own feet.

"Right then." Hammering the locker door shut, he picked his bag up and made his way purposefully to the classroom.

As he quickly passed through the corridors a small posse began to follow behind, catching on with what was about to happen. Sharpener liked to hang around the classroom during the small breaks in between lessons with his 'boys' and today was no different. Gohan entered the classroom and…walked straight to his seat, paying no attention to Sharpener. The small posse led by Videl looked at the scenario in confusion; Gohan hadn't beaten the shit out of Sharpener? There was muffled groan of disappointment as the mob disbanded and took their individual seats. Videl slowly walked up to where she and Gohan sat, noting the small smirk he had on his face. She took her seat and gave him a nudge in the midriff.

"Gohan, what are you doing?"

"Look at him, Videl" Gohan motioned toward Sharpener sat two rows in front of them with a nod of his head. "He's an arsehole, we all know it, I'm not gonna waste my time getting upset about some puerile rumour that he's decided to spread." He begun to crack his knuckles as he said this.

"But people will think it's true if you don't do something about it." She was worried; maybe Gohan wanted people to think it was true.

"I'm going to trust their better judgment, we are all adults here and this type of rumour is obviously untrue. I'm not going to satisfy the likes of him by making a scene, that's what he wants me to do. Let's just wait it out, if drama can be avoided, then let's do our best to avoid it." This was a surprisingly timid reaction from someone who was obviously so powerful, she couldn't understand it. It frustrated her that someone who had the ability to get whatever he wanted, was so happy to roll over. She didn't want to get into an argument about it with him however, for now, she would trust Gohan's belief that it would pass.

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><p>Videl was still mulling over the situation in her mind as she awaited Gohan's arrival at her house. She didn't know why he didn't just come straight after school, something about wanting to get extra studying in. A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts as Gohan announced his arrival. Scampering down the stairs, she gave him a quick greeting at the door and they proceeded back upstairs.<p>

Once inside her room Videl sat down on her bed as Gohan put his bag down and took a seat by her desk. She begun to fiddle with one of her pigtails as a hush descended over the room, neither of them knew how to start the conversation.

"So, Videl, what…work do you have?" Gohan hoped to divert her attention from the issues at school, it wouldn't help in anyway.

"Oh yeah, that…uh…Gohan, can I ask you a question?"

"I guess." He might as well let it happen; they would have to confront it at some point, so they may as well get it over with as soon as possible.

"You know the whole thing about Sharpener and us?" He nodded "Well, you know you said something about not satisfying him, what did you really mean by that?" Gohan was stunned; he had been expecting some invitation to an argument, instead she had asked him a truly deep question. He pondered it for a moment or two, making sure the answer he gave was as well worded as possible. He got up out of his seat and sat down on her bed next to her.

"Well, what I meant was, Sharpener wants to cause a rift between us, he's jealous of how close I am to you and wants to mess that up for not only you but me too." He turned to look down at her, his words escaping him due to the beauty of her bright blue eyes.

"Do you think he has reason to be jealous…?" This was unexpected, he wasn't entirely sure at what Videl was getting at.

"Erm…well…that's not an easy question to answer, I mean, we are pretty close and well we do spend a lot of…" He was cut off by the sight of a small smile caressing the corners of Videl's mouth. He felt Videl take hold of his hands, her small fingers gripping him tightly. "V-Vid…" His pathetic protest was stopped short as Videl leant up, eyes closed and pressed her mouth to his, kissing him slowly. Gohan initially seized up, however relaxed as he started to enjoy his first kiss. Oh how fast they grow up. It was shorter that it seemed, but then again, Gohan was new to all of this and it was always going to seem like hours before they stopped, when in reality it was about 20 seconds. Videl pulled away from the young man, looking as pleased as ever. Gohan regained himself in a flash, plastering on the Saiyan smirk.

"Well, I think he has reason to be jealous now." She smiled sweetly at his response to her kiss. Putting a hand on his cheek she leaned up once more. "But there's one thing troubling me Videl…" She stopped and stared at him. "Is this going to become a regular occurrence or am I just going to be your bit on the side, eh?" He winked at her cheekily as she frowned at him. "Seriously though, I think we should get your work done before we get carried away." Oh Gohan, Gohan, Gohan, Gohan, when will you learn? He had the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen inviting him to his first ever make-out session and here he was, concentrating on doing work. Videl pouted at him.

"Can't we just leave that for later?"

"Narh, come on, as much as I would like to carry on further, and I really do mean I would, we can't let it distract us." Videl put on her puppy dog eyes, she only ever used them on her Father when she wanted something from him, Gohan was the first other man to see them. He shook his head and smiled. "Ohhhhh no, don't try that on me, I'm not as ignorant as you would like to think." Removing her hand from his cheek, Gohan got up from the bed and took his seat, back at her desk. Motioning for her to come join him, Videl harrumphed and walked over to him.

* * *

><p>Gohan heard the door close behind him and started up the driveway leading to those god awful gates. He felt somehow unsatisfied with what had been achieved that evening. Yes, they had completed all the work Videl had in for the next day and yes, he had his first kiss. But there was something he hadn't done, something he couldn't put his finger on, oh well; he might remember it on the way home. Lifting himself slowly into the air, he looked down at her house one last time and shot off into the dusk sky. The wind whipped his face as he flew a little slower than usual, his dissatisfaction effecting his concentration. 10 minutes later and he had finally figured out what it was he wanted, nay, needed to do. Stopping in mid-air he turned his body and dashed off in the opposite direction, toward Videl's house. As he passed over, high enough for him to not be conspicuous, he noticed a black hummer pull in through the gates, on which was written the words 'Hercule Satan: World Champ'. More like 'Hercule Satan: World Chump', Gohan shook his head, terrible, absolutely awful, not even Piccolo would have made a joke as unfunny as that. Realising that it would be easier to not meet her Father, just yet, he made the descent toward her window, ensuring that Hercule and his cronies were inside.<p>

Videl heard the door slam as her Father and his loudmouth mates arrived home. They were obviously inebriated so she took the decision to lock her door. She'd eaten before Gohan turned up so she didn't really need anything from downstairs, especially not her father's company. She turned the small key in the door and turned to go back to watching her television. Gohan. There he was, standing by her now open window.

"G-Gohan what are you doing here?" She muttered as she walked toward him.

"Yeah, 'bout that…erm…well Videl, here goes" He licked his lips nervously. "I wanted to know if, this…Friday? You would like to go out for a meal or something." He tried to avoid her gaze as a rather large smile graced her lips. She seductively sidled up to him, trying to catch his eye.

"Son Gohan, do you mean you want to take me on a date?" She could've sworn she heard a small gulp.

"Y-yes" He looked down at the small figure now uncomfortably close to him, even though they had kissed earlier, he was still getting used to having someone THIS close. She regarded him through half closed eyes as she made the most out his discomfort, faux-contemplating her decision, finger to the mouth and whatnot.

"Hmmm, would I like to go on a date with Son Gohan? I dunno…I guess it couldn't hurt, okay, I will let you take me out on a date." His face lit up as the Son grin came out to play.

"You mean it? That's brilliant!" Videl leant up onto her tip toes and gave him a swift peck.

"Now go before my Dad decides to come up and see how I'm doing."

* * *

><p>The week had come and gone without much event, other than Sharpener's little rumour. Gohan and Videl had yet to engage in any intimate interaction at school, so still, certain rumours were flying about. People had soon lost interest in their love-life as Gohan had predicted and had moved onto the next slice of gossip. They had still been meeting after-school but had moved no further than a few closed mouth kisses here and there. But now it was Friday, the turning-point, so to speak, in the foundation of their relationship. Gohan had agreed to take Videl out to an Italian restaurant in the middle of the city. It was to be a relatively relaxed affair, no suits, but still relatively smart. Now let us join our hero, waiting outside Videl's house for her to finish getting ready. He was awoken from his daydream by the sound of the door opening and a figure emerging. He looked her up and down. While the black dress she was wearing showed off her figure brilliantly, what Gohan found most startling was the fact that she had cut her pigtails off and now wore her hair short. Okay guys; you know what it looks like.<p>

"Your hair…it's different."

"Yeah, you like it?" Gohan considered his answer. He had been shocked at first, but it was quickly growing on him as it framed her gorgeous eyes better than the pigtails had ever.

"Yeah it's really hot." Gohan put a hand to his mouth as he realised what he had just said as Videl blushed. Gohan hadn't been the only one indulging in a bit of eye candy, Videl was impressed. Gohan wore a white shirt with thin black stripes on it with a pair of skinny cream chinos, quite stylish in comparison to what he had worn earlier in his school career. He offered his arm out to hers.

"Shall we?" She smiled and took it gladly.

* * *

><p>Gohan was still hungry. He had eaten a normal sized portion of penne arrabbiata as to not embarrass Videl on their first date and was not in any way full. However, he couldn't mess this up, he'd put into much effort for him to screw it up now. He'd eaten the meal slowly; he had made all the right jokes and could be generally proud of how he had held himself during the meal. He'd even pulled her chair out for her at the start, held the door open for her as they entered and done the same when they exited. Now they were in front of her house; make or break time.<p>

"So" He grinned at her bashfully. "Just wanted to say I had a really good time tonight and I really hope you had a good time too." Videl giggled.

"I did, thank you Gohan, but I have something for you." She batted her eyelashes at him.

"Oh really?" Gohan replied knowingly. Videl begun to rummage through her handbag as she looked for Gohan's 'present'. She let out a short squeak of joy as she found it, pulling her hand out of the bag; she held a small mobile phone. "This is for you, it's already got my number on it, it's just so you can contact me more easily" Gohan took his present, aghast at such kindness.

"Oh wow Videl, that's so nice of you!" She beamed at him, happy that he had been so pleased with his present.

"Now…" She took his hand and pulled him closer to her. "You want to come inside?" She bit her lip seductively.

"Is your Dad in?" He seemed unsure whether he wanted to let himself go and see where it went.

"Nope." Before he could answer, she had opened the door and pulled him through it.


	10. This Scene Is Dead

Sincerest apologies for the length of time between updates. It's been a rather hectic period for me, A Levels and what not. Anyway the song for this chapter is **This Scene Is Dead by We Are Scientists**, thanks for all the reviews, I would have list all interest really had I not recieved them, more updates shall follow in the coming weeks/months. Hopefully.

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><p><strong>This Scene Is Dead<strong>

"So you gotta tell me G Dawg, did you and Videl get…you know…" What had started so confidently had been reduced to blushing. Sharpner was so predictable. His was a façade of the most horrible type. While others indulged in hobbies and bettering themselves as people to hide from their insecurities, Sharpner 'made up' for it with his attitude and his physique. You could call it a hobby of sorts; a hobby for the wrong reasons. The bettering of one's own body for the vanity of it all is utterly tiresome, worse than a perverse obsession which, having being learnt of, is met with a pair of raised eyebrows and assortment of incomprehensible noises. But some may argue that is just an example of a cynic's method of hiding their insecurities; pointing out others. However, Gohan stared blankly at the platinum blonde 'lad' as he tried to work out where he was going with this mumbled question about him and Videl. Gohan truly disliked Sharpner, he was a rarity, normally Gohan enjoyed anyone and everyone's company, unless they murdered for their own pleasure, that wasn't on. He only put up with him because it was so much easier than causing trouble, he had found that this type of laissez-faire attitude won more friends than lost, and also that he was the subject of Erasa's affections. Such a nice girl, what on Earth did she see in him?

"Okay Sharpner, what do you want to know?"

"Well, like, I've heard rumours that" He leaned across the lunch table. "You and Videl…" He looked around before leaning in even further "Did it."

Gohan paused.

Sharpner stared at him in anticipation.

Well this was a spanner in the works. Supressing the miniature horror bomb that had detonated in his chest, Gohan collected himself, if word got out to Videl that this rumour was circulating, he was right royally fucked. He reached below the table and fumbled around in his pockets, pulling out his new mobile phone. Tapping on the keys, he turned away from Sharpner to feign disinterest. He wasn't actually doing anything on the phone, it was just a method he had developed to lose people's attention. No comment was the best route he could think of at this current time, while denying seemed the instant response, he really didn't want to get dragged into this, best to just leave it be and wait till Videl turned up, she would deal with it. Luckily for him, the very girl had appeared. She and Erasa parted as they sat on either side of the table by their respective partners. Gohan ended his random tapping of keys with the nod of a business man, or a scholar considering more analytical bullshit about some random novel. Erasa resumed the conversation that she and Videl had obviously been having as Sharpner pretended that he didn't care that Gohan was sat in front of him. The boy in question had to restrain a gooey smile as he felt a slender hand slip into his under the table.

"So like I was saying, me and Sharpie" Fuckface pouted slowly as he put his hands behind his head "Were wondering if you and Gohan would like to, you know, come to up to town with us?"

"What, do you mean as one big group?" Videl seemed interested at the prospect at getting to spend an evening with Gohan. After Friday, they hadn't seen one another over the weekend, however they had utilised his new mobile phone to talk. Gohan didn't seem quite as enthused.

"No, no, silly, we'd be going as separate groups, guys and girls, ya know?" Gohan had lethargically turned his head that minute distance to look at Erasa; he wasn't much of a fan of Mondays.

"Are you saying tonight? Cos I mean, I don't know how my mother would feel about me going out on a school-night, she's pretty testy about me going out full stop." The phone had now been returned to its safe home in his pocket, apparently these two were interesting enough for him, typical Saiyan.

"Of course not Gohan, this Friday; I don't care what your mother says, just saying you're seeing Videl…or have you not told her?" Gohan pursed his lips at the sound of his mother and Videl in the same sentence. No, he hadn't told her about Videl, but they had only been going out for a week, he didn't see that as long enough to warrant parents getting 'involved'. A sharp nudge in the side from Videl stopped him from answering; she was better at dealing with those who pried.

"Gohan and I are keeping our relationship private at the moment, while it may be common knowledge amongst most of the school that something is going on between us, we would like to keep it under wraps from our parents and anyone else for that matter." Erasa looked taken aback; Gohan saw it in her eye…spite? Did she know about the rumour…Oh jeez.

"But you gotta tell me one thing Videl" She looked to her left and right furtively before leaning in "Did you guys fuck?" Sharpner bent over sharply and could be heard snickering as Videl's put on her 'stoic' face and Gohan begun scratching the imaginary facial hair on the underside of his chin. After eyeing her friend for a suitably long period of time; Erasa first attempting to match her stare and then eventually succumbing to the magnitude, she gave her answer.

"No." That was it? That was all she was going to say? This wasn't the Videl Gohan knew, normally she'd keep herself quiet until a moment alone and blow up. But here she was, calmly responding to an obviously provocative question, from her best friend of all people. He was impressed. However, he had noticed her hand subtly slip into his once more and attempt to crush his fingers; he was still going to hear about this. Erasa seemed satisfied with the answer, she even ignored whispers from Sharpner that were obviously pointed in the direction of getting her to ask more questions. She didn't budge however and the lunch carried on in silence, interrupted by Sharpner's attempts at creating small-talk. The atmosphere was rather the same for the rest of school, although Gohan knew that this wasn't the end of it for him, he still had to go round hers for their 'studying'.

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><p>As they left the school gates, Videl was now giving Gohan lifts to her house – it was just more convenient, Gohan could feel the rage radiating off his girlfriend. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen her this angry before, something he counted himself lucky for. She even closed the door and started the engine of the jetcopter with a vicious turn of the key, what could she not be angry at? Gohan didn't dare break the silence of the journey, it was only 10-15 minutes after all, he could manage. By the way she was gripping the steering wheel, he didn't fancy taking her on, let her cool down a little; every couple has to have its first fight he'd heard, he wanted it to be as easy as possible to resolve. As they touched down he could tell that she had calmed down, just a little bit, not enough to warrant asking the question, the question he knew would have to ask at some point. They stopped by her door and Videl looked up at him expectantly. What she wanted was beyond him, unless she spoke, they weren't going to get anywhere. However, she seemed set on maintaining her silence, only indicating with her free hand, the other held her books, to her window. Surprised, he put his hands uncertainly on her waist, making sure with a raised eyebrow that this was what she wanted, and lifted into the air slowly. It seemed to take hours to get there, Gohan constantly worrying that he might drop her, it would be fitting for the situation. However, they finally reached her window sill and she, thankfully, decided to open it herself, with the aid of Gohan holding her steady. Ahhhhhh fuck, as soon as they'd got in she had gone thrown her books on the bed and gone straight into the bathroom, this meant trouble, tears most likely. Gohan could deal with a screaming Videl, but a crying one? Well that was a different matter. Oh Kami! He could already hear the sniffles. He'd never had to deal with a crying girl before, this was an entirely new situation, he'd only just got used to knowing them for fuck's sake now this? Why did he have to get involved with her, he should have listened to his mother, they weren't worth the time. Gohan was bricking himself to say the least. Should he knock on the door like the caring boyfriend he was or just wait it out? Decisions, decisions. The decision had already been made. There she was, stood with her back to him – mid blowing her nose – he must have not heard her come out. An instinct within him cried out. He was required to do something at this point, but couldn't think what. Rising to his feet, Gohan slowly approached the sobbing girl. He would have to make his mind up on the way there what he would do, it was surprising how fast the mind could move when required. Standing behind her hoping that she would notice and turn round was possibly a little too 'Hollywood', this would require effort from him alone. Slowly wrapping his arms around her waist he brought her in closer to his chest and rested his chin on her head pensively. She stirred a little trying to get comfortable and closed her eyes, slowing her breathing down to match his. She was surprised at this sign of affection from her 'new' boyfriend, from the time she had known him, it had been her making all the moves. She opened her mouth to say something but was met with a soothing hush as Gohan kissed the top of her head. Videl was hardly bothered, she was happy to stand there for the rest of her life.<p>

* * *

><p>Gohan stared at the ceiling as he lay on Videl's bed. She was still in the bathroom. Tonight was Thursday and he still hadn't asked his mother if it was alright for him to go out on Friday. The situation over whether they had done it or not had been resolved with some harsh words in the direction of Sharpner who had agreed to keep quiet over it, on the pain of death. Other than that issue, the week had been one of progression. His and Videl's relationship had moved quite quickly from pecks here and there when they were alone to longer lingering kisses. They even had a 'make-out' session on Wednesday night, at HIS house of all places. The meeting between his mother and Videl had been surprisingly calm; Chi Chi hadn't mentioned grandchildren at any point and had more or less left them to their own devices. Goten had been at the Briefs' so they hadn't had to deal with him luckily. However, it had been a real relief for Gohan to get that proverbial 'monkey' off his back; now all he had to was ask her about Friday night, hopefully that would be as smooth.<p>

"Hey, Gohan…can I ask you something?" He was shocked at how quietly she could move sometimes, she had managed to cross her bedroom floor and take a seat on the bed without disturbing him. He nodded at her as she begun to crack her knuckles nervously, a surprisingly unladylike habit Videl had, but then again, she was always a bit of a tomboy. "Well, what I wanted to know is…how can you change your hair to being blonde?" Ah, this question, he should've seen it coming. It was only natural for her to want to know, their relationship had come on leaps and bounds recently. Gohan scratched the small amount of facial hair on his chin, Saiyans tended to not grow much facial hair until they hit about 30, strange considering that they could turn into apes and had tails at birth. He drew himself up and sat crossed legged in front Videl who mimicked his actions so they sat opposite one another in the centre of the bed. Gohan rested his hands in his lap as Videl, her head slightly tilted upwards, met his eyes with an honest stare.

"Okay, now before I tell you Videl, this is just an insurance, you cannot tell anyone what I am about to tell right?" She nodded enthusiastically, "Even if we don't work out, touch wood" He sprawled back and touched the white headboard as Videl tilted her head to the side giving him a look of disapproval. "Now, where do I start? Well, okay, you're not going to believe this when I tell you, but my father was…an alien." She blinked in disbelief, but before she could say anything Gohan had started up again. "I know, I don't look particularly alien, and he didn't for that matter, the only noticeable things about us 'aliens' is that we are naturally stronger than humans, all the things like flying come pretty naturally to us as well." Videl still seemed unsure.

"So...is there a name for your father's alien race?"

"Oh, yeah, there is actually, they, I should probably say we, are called Saiyans, I'm only half, but I have still inherited most of the Saiyan traits. One of these traits is the fact that through training I have managed to reach the level of 'Super Saiyan', which is when my hair turns blonde. There are, of course, other traits, one being my hair for starters."

"What's so special about your hair; other than the fact that it can turn blonde?" Gohan bent his head down so his hair was closer to her face. She placed her hand on his head and ran it through his black locks, it suddenly dawned on her. "No gel or spray?" He nodded his head.

"None at all, my hair is really lively, hence the fact that it can turn blonde. That's not the only trait however, nope. You've obviously noticed my staggering appetite right? Well, that's not all, I don't have one right now, but around every 3 years, I will grow a tail." Now this WAS news. "You okay with that?"

"Yeah, of course…I mean…it's only a tail". Her face betrayed her words, she couldn't help it, the idea of a tail was…foreign to say the least. I mean she would put up with some things, but a tail, she didn't know how to take that. Gohan placed a hand under her chin and stared straight into her eyes. She already knew her answer as he brought her face closer to his.

* * *

><p>Landing in front of the door had been easy. Walking to the door had been easy. Opening the door had been really easy. Getting half the way to his bedroom had also been pretty easy. Trying to sneak past his mother's bedroom had been difficult. Staring into his mother's eyes and lying to her face had been impossible. What was he lying about you may ask? Well, considering the time was 12:30 in the morning, he had a lot to lie about. His excuse? Work, if in doubt, say it was work. It passed luckily, but she was awake now and considering they were getting things done, he might as well pop the question. She was slyly moving to the kitchen so Gohan guessed she may be up for another hour or so, making any necessary preparations for Friday's breakfast; the most integral of all the week's breakfasts. Goten and Trunks trained on that very day and she was hardly going to let her young boy out on an empty stomach. As she began to assemble the ingredients she would need, Gohan sensed his opportunity.<p>

"Hey mum, do you mind if I ask you something?" He asked as she tottered drowsily over to the freezer to retrieve some bacon. Receiving no answer, Gohan resolved to just ask the question. "Wehhehell, I've been asked by a couple of my friends to go you with them tomorrow – I mean – tonight and I was wondering if you would mind that?" He maintained a safe distance, although she hadn't wielded that infamous frying pan of hers since Goku had died, its presence still hung heavy over the Son kitchen.

"No."

"What do you mean no in 'no I wouldn't mind' or as in 'no you can't go'?" He knew exactly what she meant by no, he just didn't want to disappoint Videl who had outlined to him in no uncertain terms that she had agreed to go with Erasa and couldn't back out, ipso facto Gohan was going.

"I mean that I don't want you going out this Friday night, your father never did anything like that so why should you?" Ah, this wasn't going to be easy, whenever she mentioned his dad it meant she had some sort of emotional attachment to the issue.

"What's the real reason mum?" This had to stop at some point; she had to get over the fact that Goku was dead, he was gone and wouldn't be coming back for the foreseeable future. He had taken a seat at the table as she messed around on the counter. She was no longer however, she had turned to look at her son; the drowsy tinge that had been present now gone. She slowly approached and sat in the chair on the opposite side of the table to her eldest son.

"I…I…" She held back the tears, this was no time for crying "Don't want to lose you as well son." Gohan rose and moved to the chair beside her; placing an arm round her, he brought his mother into a hug.

"You shouldn't worry about me mum, I'm 17 going on 18 now…I'm a big boy. You'll have to lose me at some point." He kissed the top of her head; the tears had started to roll as she buried her face in her arms. "Look on the bright side, you've still got Goten, he's still got a long way to go." She sniffed twice and shook her son's arm off, attempting to recover her composure. A short pause followed. Suddenly she began to wail again.

"BUT WHAT ABOUT WHEN HE GOES AS WELL?" Gohan was losing patience; his mother was just being unreasonable now. He couldn't say that though, this was his mother, she was probably testing him of something.

"Well, you might have a grandchild to help look after by then." That was definitely what she wanted to hear because as soon as the word 'grandchild' left his mouth, she stopped crying. She opened an eye and peered at her son, a slight grin appearing on her face.

"…With Videl?" Gohan spluttered a little as his face turned a deep red. Rising from his chair he begun to stalk away from his giggling mother until he realised he was yet to receive the 'yes' answer he needed.

"Sooo…can I go out on Friday night?" He asked his mother with an intelligent tone. She blew her nose and answered him.

"Yes, yes, now go to bed; don't want to be tired for school."

Gohan blew a mental sigh of relief and made his way to bed.

* * *

><p>"You've got flu? You can't do this to me Videl! I can't back out now, fucking Sharpner's expecting me to come out!...Oh right! Well that's just freakin' dandy isn't it? You pull out and the last moment, but I, the one who didn't even really want to go, have to go, sweet, just fucking peachy Videl…No I will not lower my voice, this is stupid, you've royally screwed me…Okay I will! I'll come to your house straight after school to see if you're <em>really<em> ill…Bye then" Gohan punched the disconnect button on his phone. He couldn't believe she was doing this to him. On the day they were going out she hadn't come into school, she had apparently been ill. The protector of the city – ill. This was too special, yeah the city had been quiet recently, but flu? Come on, oldest excuse in the book. He had called at lunch to see if she was still coming out, to which, unsurprisingly, she had responded no. Not in the lunch hall or any well-populated area of the school of course, he couldn't embarrass her like that. Well, he would just have to get over it, not much he could do now, Videl was obstinate at the best of times. It was going to have be another one of those days, the work would have to take him away to his special place; where words and numbers were of paramount importance. However, having to deal with Sharpner alone was going to be such a bitch.

* * *

><p>Well, the time was nigh, the mirror was his last and only friend. The only one that didn't lie to him, the one that showed him for his pros AND cons. He didn't look bad did he? Videl had advised him on what to wear when he had gone round, jeans and shirt would suffice it appeared. Man that had been bad. She refused to open the door at first, instead insisting that her father was in and she didn't want the hassle. He knew full well, because she had told him only a few days before, that her dad had gone on a 'Round the World' cruise. Eventually she opened the door, she was quite predictable ol' Videl. First she had given him the cold shoulder, not even looking at him, attempting to make the guilt that had bubbled at the bottom of his stomach even worse; she had, of course, been ill. Next, after a little coaxing, she had started to quietly sob, at least talking to him about how much of a terrible day she had. Third, she stopped sobbing and started to try to get him to wait on her, instead of going out, he wasn't having any of that, the number of things Sharpner would call him if he didn't come out weren't worth it. Fourth she had finally given up in trying get anything off her boyfriend and started getting him to cuddle her, something he had happily give in to, assuring her that he had some sort of natural immunity to flu, something about Saiyan blood. He had managed to convince her to show him what he should wear, something he had been pretty worried about beforehand. That all having happened, Gohan now had to confront the coming evening. Bidding his mother and younger brother goodbye, he launched into the night sky, heading towards Sharpner's supposed address.<p>

The doorbell. Just ring it. Just ring the freakin' doorbell. It was not difficult. Press any of the appendages of either hand onto the small button beside the door and wait for the sound. He'd expected Sharpner's house to be bigger, it was big, but not in the 'Do they really need all those bedrooms?' way more in the 'I wish he threw more parties'. Its size wasn't the most perplexing of features however – it was pebble-dashed – in this day and age? It looked a relatively recent addition to the street, plastic pipes sticking out of the front garden in anticipation of the sprinkler system that was yet to be added. Allowing his mind to wander had been the key, now no longer thinking about it, his hand had moved to the small white bell. He was alerted to his actions by the sound of a short generic chime echoing down the hidden corridor; clenching his buttocks and gritting his teeth Gohan waited for the door to open. A small blonde woman appeared, the top of head bobbing just underneath the small window neatly placed on the door as she opened it. Well this was news; Sharpner's sister/mother was rather attractive. She seemed to be sizing him up, her tracksuit revealing a little more than Gohan wanted to mention.

"So you must be Gohan." Someone outside of their school knew who he was?

"How did you know?" He asked giving her an embarrassed smile.

"Well from the amount I've heard from Erasa about this tall, dark, handsome man dating her best friend; it was always going to be easy." Gohan rubbed the back of his head, the second phase of embarrassment "But where are my manners? My name is Nina, Nina Sharpner, I'm Claudius's sister." She held out her hand for him to shake, which Gohan gladly took. It soon dawned on him.

"Wait, wait, wait…are you telling me, that the rough, tough Sharpner I know is actually called…Claudius?" This was too good to be true; he'd always thought Sharpner was his first name.

"Um yeah, I wouldn't bother ribbing him about it; he's heard it all before." She opened the door wider for Gohan to enter and glided up a set of stairs, indicating that his 'friends' were through the first doorway on the right. They sure were. An assortment of males and females surrounded the island counter of what appeared to be a living room-cum-kitchen, very modern. Through a gap in the small circle he could just pick out a frost-ravaged bottle with 'Grey Goose' emblazoned upon its exterior standing upright and proud on the black granite worktop surface. This was Gohan's routine. Having grown-up without any awareness of the modern world and its fashion, he made sure to quietly survey any new surroundings and assimilate all the information he could garner from the wall paper to the drapes. He was making up on lost time; trying to become one with this new urban world.

"Ahhhhhhh look who it is, guys, this is Videl's new beau, the mysterious Gohan." That was Erasa's voice, only two of these people knew who he was and she was definitely the nicer of those two. Instinctively raising his hand into the air to greet his new acquaintances, Gohan was met with an assortment of love and jealousy, each set of eyes told of a different judgment, purely based on his looks and the fact that he was dating Videl Satan. He accepted the small position between two heavily made-up girls called, as he was to find out later, Liza and Maricela. The night began to progress, slowly at first; Gohan getting to know the individual people. By the end of it, he could only remember Liza and Maricela. However, once the group, who were strangely enough boy AND girl, Gohan had thought that it would be separate groups, had finished with their 'pre-lash' and moved to the waiting cab; the night got faster. The two shots of vodka that had been forced down his throat by his new friend 'Claudius' aka Sharpner had made him lucid, not to mention that bottle of Beck's Vier he had quickly snaffled. It wasn't that he liked alcohol, on the contrary, he far preferred soft drinks. But it seemed a means to an end, how else was he going to survive these arseholes?

* * *

><p>"Cuz, you want some MDMA?"<p>

"I beg your pardon kind sir?"

"Eh kid don't fuck with me, you want some e or not?". Gohan was by this point far beyond the point of careful judgment, once he had been introduced to the pinewood taste of Sambuca it had been steady descent into inebriation. How he came to find himself confronted with this large Afro/Caribbean gentleman holding a set of pills in his palm, he did not know. Was he going to purchase them? Most likely. He had his wallet out, it would've been rude not to. The pounding bass reverberating from the less than high class nightclub they were standing outside had convinced him of his need for a sedative of sorts. Would these sedate him? Like he cared, it hoped it would be a placebo. He handed over a pair of notes, and took the pills, throwing them down his gullet in one swift motion. It was only now that he noticed Sharpener's sister, Nina, was with him. Right.


End file.
